UBS launches PR offensive

Swiss bank UBS has launched its biggest publicity campaign in three years in a bid to boost its image abroad.

It follows a tumultuous two years, with the bank posting billions of francs in losses in 2008 and becoming embroiled in a tax evasion scandal. UBS chief executive Oswald Grübel said last month the bank had turned a corner, reporting its third successive quarter of profits.

The new publicity campaign aims to build up the trust of clients. It will be launched in the Asia Pacific region on Monday and then in Europe and the Middle East at the end of August.

The bank refused to say how much the campaign was costing but noted that it had a global focus and would use the television, internet and press and “would not stop” while there were unhappy customers.

In November the bank placed an advertisement in the Swiss press thanking its customers for their loyalty. Several months earlier it wrote them a letter admitting it had made mistakes.

UBS was the worst hit European bank from the subprime mortgage crisis, writing down some $50 billion between the end of 2007 and 2009.

swissinfo.ch and agencies