The Swiss bank UBS is sticking to its dividend plans despite the corona virus crisis. The major bank continues to propose a cash distribution of $ 0.73 per share at the April 29 Annual General Meeting, according to an agenda published today. That corresponds to a total of 1.4 billion dollars.
UBS had a profit of $ 3.3 billion last year. The previous week, the Swiss government, the central bank SNB and the financial market regulator FINMA asked the country’s financial companies to carefully consider how high the dividends should be in the current environment. Due to the virus, physical participation in the UBS general meeting was not possible.
ECB recommended a break
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) had strongly advised banks last week not to pay dividends or buy back shares for half a year in the corona virus crisis.
This applies to distributions for the past financial year 2019 as well as for the current year. Rather, the institutes should use the money to support households and companies with loans in times of crisis.
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