UBS sells Banco Pactual in Brazil
Swiss bank UBS is to sell its Brazilian financial services business for about $2.5 billion (SFr2.92 billion) in a bid to reduce risk and boost its capital base.
UBS, hit hard by the global credit crisis, said the agreement to sell Banco Pactual to BTG Investments would result in a small loss.
In a statement on Monday, UBS said it would give more details about the effects of the transaction in its first-quarter financial report, due to be published on May 5.
Activist investor and former UBS chief executive Luqman Arnold called last year for UBS to sell the highly profitable Brazilian business as part of a series of demands to refocus the bank on wealth management.
Last week, UBS said it would post a first-quarter loss of nearly SFr2 billion ($1.73 billion), mainly due to writedowns and outflows at its wealth management unit.
At the same time, it announced it would cut another 8,700 jobs or 11 per cent of its workforce, to cut costs and return to profitability.
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