UBS published a “transparency” report two years ago about what went wrong before the financial crisis. The report was perhaps premature. Yesterday’s SFr1.4bn of Libor-related fines and other charges demonstrate the scale of wrongdoing at the bank between 2005 and 2010. And there is much more besides. UBS has increased its provisions for litigation and regulatory matters by SFr2.7bn this year, and only half of that covers the Libor settlement. The remaining SFr1.3bn will cover other Libor-related issues, as well as claims related to residential mortgage-backed securities. Investors will see very little of the SFr2.5-3bn pre-provision, pre-tax profits that the bank expects to report this year.
兩年前，瑞銀(UBS)曾發布一份“透明度”報告，有關在金融危機前它面對的一些問題。這份報告也許發布得過早了一些。昨日，瑞銀因牽涉倫敦銀行間同業拆借利率(Libor)丑聞，被處以14億瑞士法郎罰金，同時它還面對其它一些指控，這足以顯示瑞銀在2005年到2010年間不當行為的嚴重程度。事情還不止于此，今年瑞銀將與訴訟及監管事宜有關的準備金增加了27億瑞士法郎，這其中用于上述和解的只占一半。其余13億瑞士法郎用來解決其他與Libor丑聞有關的問題，以及用于支付住房抵押貸款支持證券的相關賠款。投資者將會發現，瑞銀今年預期的25億至30億瑞士法郎的撥備及稅前利潤，恐怕要大打折扣。