By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi
ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS has been taking a conservative approach in dealing with fast-evolving sanctions imposed against Russian businesses and individuals over the invasion of Ukraine, Chief Executive Ralph Hamers said on Wednesday, saying all Russians were effectively "semi-sanctioned".
"We are working with our clients, including our Russian clients, to see how to manage their business and derisk their own situation," Hamers told the Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) European Financials Conference, referring to a barrage of measures imposed by the United States, European Union, Britain and Switzerland since Russia invaded Ukraine.
"In principle, every Russian, every person with a Russian passport, is semi-sanctioned...in the UK, EU and Switzerland."
Banks have been scrambling to keep atop a growing list of measures imposed by European and North American governments in response to Russia's military actions, while also seeking to limit potential losses.
UBS on March 7 detailed a $634 million direct exposure to Russia.
That, however, did not include assets not on the bank's balance sheet, including those it simply holds or invests for Russian customers, a figure UBS has declined to provide.
The CEO of rival Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) on Tuesday revealed some 4% of the assets it manages in its wealth management businesses belong to Russian customers, amounting to tens of billions of dollars.
The March 7 report showed UBS held some $200 million in loans to wealthy customers backed by Russian assets, while less than $10 million in outstanding loans were made out to clients subject to sanctions introduced by that time.
Hamers on Thursday said he could not elaborate.
"I can't give a further update on the number of sanctioned clients, because it literally changes every day...New lists come out every night, and we just go through the list and we match it against (our client relationships)," he said.
"Basically, we take the most conservative perspective there to ensure that we comply with sanctions," he said, adding some sanctions were less clearly defined than others. "(We) also (want to) manage the risk of being fined in a couple of years, when people come back and say, 'We have looked at how you interpreted these ones.' So that's why everybody I guess errs on the side of conservatism."