UBS may move its headquarters out of Switzerland if the authorities impose too many new regulations in the wake of the global financial crisis, according to Sonntag, the Swiss publication.

Oswald Gruebel, chief executive, made the threat in a speech to businessmen last week, citing the possibility that the authorities would force major banks to reorganise as holding companies, the paper said on Sunday, according to a translation of the report by Reuters.

UBS did not reply to WealthBriefing seeking a comment on the report at the time of publication.

Mr Gruebel spoke to the Zurich Business Club last week at a closed-door event at which reporters were not present, the report said.

The idea of forcing banks in Switzerland to operate as holding companies is part of the discussion on supervising large banks.

The Swiss government bailed out UBS in October last year with SFr6 billion ($5.95 billion) in return for a stake of some 9 per cent, which has been subsequently sold at a profit. UBS, the country’s largest listed banking group, has been hit by more than $50 billion in credit market write-downs and has also paid a $780 million fine to settle criminal charges in the US that it helped wealthy US citizens evade tax.