UBS Announces $2 Billion New Share Buyback Programme

Tom Burroughes

1 July 2025

, which has locked horns with federal Swiss policymakers pushing for higher capital requirements, has announced that it intends to launch a two-year share buyback programme of up to $2 billion.

The programme had been given the green light at the Zurich-listed bank’s annual general meeting on 10 April. It starts from 1 July.

The bank intends, as previously announced, to buy back the shares in the second half of this year, it said in a statement yesterday.

The programme launched in April 2024 was closed after completing its aim of achieving $2 billion of share repurchases.

In early June, UBS said it broadly supported proposed Swiss federal government regulatory proposals to guard against shocks, but also “strongly disagrees” with what it calls an “extreme” proposed hike in capital requirements. Switzerland’s largest bank said the measures would put it out of line with international standards – potentially giving rivals a competitive edge.

Swiss capital rule changes could mean that UBS would have to hold $24 billion more Common Equity Tier 1 capital on a pro-forma basis, adding to CET1 changes it has already communicated, taking such capital it must hold to $42 billion. (CET1 capital is a shock absorber against a market crash, and the ways it is set and calculated have changed before and after the 2008 crisis.)

UBS said it will be setting out its 2026 capital return ambitions with its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 financial results early next year.