UBS beats forecasts as client trust returns

The latest results from Swiss bank UBS seem to show a return of client trust. Money poured into its core wealth management arm in the first quarter – 8.6 billion euros worth – and its struggling investment bank did better than expected.

Clients had fled the world’s second-largest wealth manager in recent years after it had to be bailed out and admitted helping wealthy Americans avoid paying tax.

UBS said it had strong inflows in the Asia Pacific region and emerging markets as well as from the ultra wealthy, although it continued to see outflows in Europe, where countries have been chasing tax evaders using secret Swiss accounts.

It reported a pretax profit of 835 million francs at its investment bank, up from 100 million the previous quarter.

Copyright © 2012 euronews