Zurich  - UBS, the Swiss banking giant, lost more money last year than originally reported, it noted Wednesday, primarily due to a large fine it had to pay United States authorities as part of a tax settlement.

In 2008, UBS lost a record 20.9 billion Swiss francs (18 billion dollars). Last month it had reported losses of 19.6 billion francs and announced job cuts. Most of the losses came from its investment banking sector.

Zurich (dpa) - Credit Suisse and Swiss Re, both hit hard by the financial crisis, announced changes at the top of the companies Monday morning.

Peter Forstmoser, the chairman of Swiss Re, the re-insurer, announced in a statement that he would resign from the board and be replaced by Walter B. Kielholz, the current chairman of Credit Suisse, who would stay at the bank as a member of the board.

Hans-Ulrich Doerig, currently the vice-chairman of Credit Suisse was being proposed as the new chairman of Switzerland's second largest bank.

Zurich - The Swiss-based private bank EFG International said Wednesday its profit in 2008 dropped 33 per cent compared to the previous year. The bank's stock closed down about 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Pictet and Cie private bank based in Geneva said it would expand its wealth management business, in a move against the current of the global economic downturn.

Zurich - The Swiss-based private bank EFG International said Wednesday its profit in 2008 was down 33 per cent compared to the previous year. The bank's stock dropped about 20 per cent in morning trading.

The asset manager said its profit for 2008 was 221.9 million Swiss francs (191.6 million dollars) on total revenues of 946.3 million, a slight increase over the previous year. If adjusted for non-recurring items, net profit was 280.9 million.

Zurich - Shares in UBS fell Tuesday, hitting a new low on the Zurich exchange, as Switzerland's largest bank said it would fight to keep client information protected.

The stock hit 9.35 Swiss francs during trading, a record low, but did recover slightly to close at 9.85, down 1.5 per cent on the day.

A US judge on Monday gave UBS until April 30 to file a response to a summons against it by authorities there, demanding that the bank hand over some 52,000 names of US clients holding assets in Switzerland. The judge scheduled a trial for July 13.

Zurich  - Shares in the Swiss bank UBS continued their fall on Monday, dropping 9.09 per cent to 10 francs (8.59 dollars), setting a new low for the stock on the Zurich exchange.

On Friday, the stock lost 14 per cent, closing at 11 francs.

The decline in value was seen as a reaction to the investigation in the United States into allegations that UBS employees helped clients commit tax fraud and concerns about the fate of the Alpine country's secret banking laws.