Former Zurich FDP councilor and co‑president of the cantonal FDP, Filippo Leutenegger, has taken a public stance against tighter capital‑requirement rules for UBS. In two LinkedIn posts, also shared on Instagram, he warned that weakening or losing UBS would create a "real crisis" for the financial sector, noting that the bank is Zurich canton’s and city’s largest taxpayer and a major employer.
Leutenegger argued that the recent decision of the Council of States (Ständerat) to increase UBS’s hard core capital to 90% of Tier 1, while rejecting a compromise that would have allowed 50% of the capital to be in AT1 instruments, could raise loan costs and jeopardise jobs. He called on the National Council to correct the measure, saying the impact on the tax base and employment could be severe.
The vote in the Ständerat on the capital‑requirement amendment was 16 in favour and 29 against, rejecting the 50% AT1 compromise proposed by FDP Ständerat Thierry Burkart. The proposal, backed by a minority of FDP members including Martin Schmid, Josef Dittli and Hans Wicki, sought a mixed capital structure. In contrast, a broader FDP bloc—Severin Brüngger, Petra Gössi, Benjamin Mühlemann, Andrea Caroni, Johanna Gapany, Damian Müller and Pascal Broulis—supported the stricter 90% hard core capital rule championed by Peter Hegglin of Zug.
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) largely backed the 50% compromise, with only Jakob Stark dissenting, while centrist parties (SP, Green‑Liberals) and the majority of the historically powerful Mitte (formerly CVP) opposed it. Notably, Zurich’s own Ständeräte Daniel Jositsch (SP) and Tiana Angelina Moser (Green‑Liberal) voted for the UBS‑friendly outcome.
Leutenegger’s criticism also targets Federal Council member Karin Keller‑Sutter, who supports the stricter capital rules, marking a rare intra‑party clash within the FDP over banking regulation.
