UBS faces big penalty over Credit Suisse’s Archegos failings -FT

(Reuters) -UBS Group AG faces hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties over Credit Suisse’s mishandling of Archegos Capital, after UK, Swiss and U.S. regulators completed their investigations, Financial Times reported on Monday.

UBS has asked the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority to publish their findings and announce any penalties jointly at the end of July, FT reported.

Britain’s Prudential Regulation Authority could impose a fine of up to 100 million pounds ($127.81 million), while the U.S. Federal Reserve could impose a penalty of up to $300 million, the newspaper reported, adding that Credit Suisse had set aside just $35 million for potential fines.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority does not have the power to fine financial institutions, president Marlene Amstad said in May.

Archegos’ collapse stemmed from its founder Bill Hwang’s aggressive use of total return swaps, a type of financial contract, to boost the effective size of his market positions. The New York-based firm’s demise caused billions of dollars in losses for Credit Suisse.

UBS completed its emergency takeover of embattled rival Credit Suisse last week, forging a Swiss banking and wealth management giant with a $1.6 trillion balance sheet.

It set aside $4 billion for potential lawsuits on the Credit Suisse deal in May, according to a presentation.

The U.S. Fed Reserve, UBS and the Prudential Regulatory Authority declined to comment. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1 = 0.7824 pounds)