UBS Scrutinizes Lending to High-Net-Worth Clients in Midst of ArchegosUBS Scrutinizes Lending to High-Net-Worth Clients in Midst of Archegos
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:
While the Archegos Capital dilemma has cost UBS and its brokerage unit nearly $744 million, CEO Ralph Hamers announced plans to alter his predecessor’s setting of lending target for wealth management clients. After becoming CEO of UBS nearly a decade ago, Hamers voiced concerns over the Archegos saga after an analyst reminded Hamers of his predecessor’s target of nearly $30 billion in lending wealth management clients. The CEO claimed that UBS would not set lending targets, which the firm had considered discontinuing entirely due to the Archegos situation. “We don’t have targets here. However, if you look at the lending penetration in terms of our wealth portfolio versus many of our peers, we still have some upside in terms of lending growth by truly supporting the broader relationship with that”, said Hamers.
According to AdvisorHub, UBS has been urging advisors to lend to their high-net-worth clients while hiring private bankers who sell proprietary products. In an effort to control lending and support the growing segment of the wealth management industry that benefits from borrowing, UBS has ensured “that the lending specialists that we have on the investment bank actually start playing that role also for our wealthy clients”, according to Hamers.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.
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