Worries of too large UBS are ‘over the top’, says SNB head

Worries that UBS Group is now too big for Switzerland are exaggerated, according to the country’s central bank chief. Such a suggestion is “over the top”, Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Thomas Jordan told Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, in an interview on Monday. “It needs the right regulation, good supervision, good preparation.” The forced takeover of Credit Suisse created a banking juggernaut. The size of the combined UBS-Credit Suisse group is twice that of the Swiss economy. That has raised questions over what would happen should another crisis arise. + Why a monster UBS bank scares Switzerland In the interview Jordan also said Swiss inflation had probably accelerated this month but had stayed within the Swiss National Bank’s target range. “Our expectation is that inflation went up, because of the VAT increase and electricity prices,” he said. “But it shouldn’t go above 2%. That’s the base scenario.” Swiss consumer-price data for January are due on February 13.