UBS GROUP AG ZURICH/SYDNEY (Reuters) - The head of UBS's (>> UBS Group AG) wealth management arm said on Thursday the Swiss bank is reviewing its business in Australia which could, according to one source, culminate in a sale of the unit.
"You have businesses who perform extremely well and you have businesses that struggle," UBS's Juerg Zeltner said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "That's part of performance assessment and yes, we are reviewing our business in Australia."
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that UBS held a staff meeting earlier this week where the head of the bank's Australian wealth management division was asked if UBS is looking at selling the business.
The response was, "as a CEO, it's my job to keep looking at all our businesses," which was interpreted by many bankers present as an implicit admission that the unit is being considered for sale, according to the person.
A spokeswoman for UBS Australia did not comment.
In Australia, UBS currently offers wealth management, investment banking and asset management services.
An Australian regulator said last month it had requested information from UBS after a senior politician said he had the bank change an analyst's report about a $13 billion (£8.7 billion) electricity network that it is helping the government sell.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin in Zurich and Swati Pandey in Sydney; Editing by Vincent Baby)
