Banker attacks UK government over neglect

| 03/03/2011

(FT.Com): The chief executive of UBS has attacked the UK government for its public neglect of the City of London, warning that tougher regulations will see Britain and the rest of Europe cede investment banking business to Asia and the US.Oswald Grübel, the veteran banker who has led the Swiss bank back from the brink of collapse over the past two years, said: “The government is so quiet about[the City]. Only behind closed doors do they pay lip service to wanting to keep the City. If it is abandoned by the government one day, God help you.” The comments, in an interview with the Financial Times, echo the privately held views of many bankers who complain the British government’s recent Project Merlin peace deal with UK banks did nothing to convert years of banker-bashing into a pro-City stance.

Mr Grübel, 67, said that like all foreign banks UBS needed to know whether London – the main base of its core investment banking operation – was the right place to target investment.

 

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