The addresses and telephone numbers of UBS AG’s two registered offices and principal places of business are: Bahnhofstrasse 45, CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland, telephone +41 44 234 1111; and Aeschenvorstadt 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland, telephone +41 61 288 5050.
Swiss Regulatory Powers
If UBS AG experiences financial difficulties, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has the power to open restructuring or liquidation proceedings or impose protective measures in relation to, UBS AG, which proceedings or measures may have a material adverse effect on UBS AG’s shareholders and creditors.
Under the Swiss Federal Banking Act of 8 November 1934 (as amended, the “Swiss Banking Act”), FINMA is able to exercise broad statutory powers with respect to Swiss banks and Swiss parent companies of financial groups, such as UBS Group AG, UBS AG and UBS Switzerland AG, if there is justified concern that the entity is over-indebted, has serious liquidity problems or, after the expiration of any relevant deadline, no longer fulfils capital adequacy requirements. Such powers include ordering protective measures, instituting restructuring proceedings (and exercising any Swiss resolution powers in connection therewith), and instituting liquidation proceedings, all of which may have a material adverse effect on shareholders and creditors or may prevent UBS Group AG, UBS AG or UBS Switzerland AG from paying dividends or making payments on debt obligations.
UBS would have limited ability to challenge any such protective measures, and creditors and shareholders would have no right under Swiss law or in Swiss courts to reject them, seek their suspension, or challenge their imposition, including measures that require or result in the deferment of payments.
If restructuring proceedings are opened with respect to UBS Group AG, UBS AG or UBS Switzerland AG, the resolution powers that FINMA may exercise include the power to: (i) transfer all or some of the assets, debt and other liabilities, and contracts of the entity subject to proceedings to another entity; (ii) stay for a maximum of two business days (a) the termination of, or the exercise of rights to terminate, netting rights, (b) rights to enforce or dispose of certain types of collateral or (c) rights to transfer claims, liabilities or certain collateral, under contracts to which the entity subject to proceedings is a party; and/or (iii) partially or fully write down the equity capital and, if such equity capital is fully written down, convert into equity or write down the capital and other debt instruments of the entity subject to proceedings. Shareholders and creditors would have no right to reject, or to seek the suspension of, any restructuring plan pursuant to which such resolution powers are exercised. They would have only limited rights to challenge any decision to exercise resolution powers or to have that decision reviewed by a judicial or administrative process or otherwise.
Upon full or partial write-down of the equity and debt of the entity subject to restructuring proceedings, the relevant shareholders and creditors would receive no payment in respect of the equity and debt that is written down, the write-down would be permanent, and the investors would not, at such time or at any time thereafter, receive any shares or other participation rights, or be entitled to any write-up or any other compensation in the event of a potential recovery of the debtor. If FINMA orders the conversion of debt of the entity subject to restructuring proceedings into equity, the securities received by the investors may be worth significantly less than the original debt and may have a significantly different risk profile, and such conversion would also dilute the ownership of existing shareholders. In addition, creditors receiving equity would be effectively subordinated to all creditors of the restructured entity in the event of a subsequent winding up, liquidation or dissolution of the restructured entity, which would increase the risk that investors would lose all or some of their investment.
FINMA has significant discretion in the exercise of its powers in connection with restructuring proceedings. Furthermore, certain categories of debt obligations, such as certain types of deposits, are subject to preferential treatment. As a result, holders of obligations of an entity subject to a Swiss restructuring proceeding may have their obligations written down or converted into equity even though obligations ranking on par with or junior to such obligations are not written down or converted.
As of the date of this prospectus, there is no clear guidance on what impact it would have on the rights of holders of the debt securities or warrants or the ability of UBS AG to make payments under the debt securities or warrants if one or several of the measures under the aforementioned insolvency regime were imposed in connection with a restructuring of UBS AG.
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