UBS industry customers increasingly critical, survey finds

By John Revill

ZURICH (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of Swiss industrial companies are unhappy with the service from UBS, notably in lending, since its 2023 Credit Suisse takeover, a survey found, in a blow to the bank's efforts to show it is not abusing its market dominance.

UBS has been under close scrutiny since it acquired its main rival, which collapsed after a series of financial setbacks, triggering fears that Swiss companies would pay a price for the enlarged bank's outsize market strength.

The poll by Swissmem, an industry association whose members include engineering firm ABB, found 23% of respondents said the quality and conditions of banking services had worsened in areas such as interest rates, loan pricing and credit limits.

A UBS spokesperson said the bank was in regular contact with Swissmem and was examining the survey in detail, adding: "corporate banking is of central importance to UBS".

A Swissmem poll in October last year found only 9% of firms reported feeling negative effects from UBS' emergency takeover of Credit Suisse. But 36% feared conditions would get worse.

Of the 231 companies Swissmem surveyed in August this year, only 2% said banking services had improved, while 68% said there was no change and 7% gave no answer.

The Swiss competition commission favoured a deeper investigation into the bank merger, but financial regulator FINMA said in June it would not conduct further inquiries.

Switzerland's consumer price watchdog has also put UBS under observation. The authority said it had received complaints in "double figures" about UBS, mainly over higher interest rates being charged on loans.

"The adjustment of credit conditions reflects the massive changes in the economic environment," the UBS spokesperson said, referring to an increase in borrowing costs since 2022 when central banks started hiking rates to combat inflation.

The provision of credit by UBS was the biggest problem highlighted in the Swissmem survey, with 74% of dissatisfied companies saying conditions had worsened.

UBS last week said it would continue to provide around 350 billion Swiss francs ($415 billion) in loans to its home market, with its country head saying its commitment was "unwavering."

The leadership of UBS has said that Credit Suisse ran an unsustainable business model, offering credit on terms that were too low, which therefore needed to be re-priced.

($1 = 0.8435 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Alexander Smith)