UBS and Credit Suisse to pay dividend in two installments

Rather than renounce or plan the dividend, UBS and Credit Suisse have adopted an alternative solution.

Pressured by the financial gendarme as part of the coronavirus health crisis, the two large Swiss banks will split the amount intended for shareholders into two tranches.

UBS will still pay $ 0.73 per share in 2019, half as an ordinary dividend on May 7, and the other half as extraordinary compensation on November 19. The general assembly of April 29 will still have to decide the question.

The number one Swiss bank has decided to comply with the requests of the Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), he said in a press release.

The situation is identical for Credit Suisse, which maintains its dividend of 0.2776 francs per share, but which will also make two payments. The first, of 0.1388 francs per title, will take place on May 11. The other half will be paid in “autumn 2020”, says the Zurich group in a separate press release. The general assembly will have the last word on April 30.

Finma also reacted by means of a press release, welcoming the “substantial” decision of the big Swiss banks to postpone half of the dividend distribution, “despite their financial solidity”.

“Finma sees this precautionary measure by the two establishments as a means of responsibly responding to shareholders’ expectations and to the great uncertainties linked to the COVID-19 crisis,” said the financial gendarme.

At the end of March, the Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) announced measures to facilitate the circulation of liquidity in the Swiss economy in the context of a global pandemic. Banks can thus benefit from a reduction in capital requirements. However, these facilities will be reduced in proportion to the dividend paid, in order to dissuade institutions from making these payments.

ats, awp

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