Swiss bank UBS has admitted it made mistakes during the financial crisis, particularly in the investment banking area.
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In a report released on Thursday, UBS said it would not take legal action against its previous management despite the shortcomings.
“What happened shouldn’t have been allowed to happen, and with our decision to refrain from legal proceedings, we don’t want to gloss over the mistakes made by UBS or absolve those involved of their corporate responsibility,” said board chairman Kaspar Villiger.
In its review of the events during the financial market crisis, UBS said its investment banking growth strategy wasn’t properly planned, and this was a “significant” contributor to its losses.
“The incentives in place at that time to generate revenues without taking appropriate consideration of the risks underpinned this strategy and facilitated losses,” according to UBS.
Switzerland’s biggest bank also conceded its risk control was based too heavily on statistical models, and the ratings of external agencies were rarely questioned.
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Over the past few years, UBS has garnered a lot of negative press. Extraordinary general assemblies and public protests have been occuring with increasing frequency.
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