UBS gets $11.6B after $10B write-down

ZURICH, Switzerland, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Swiss bank UBS AG said Monday it got an $11.6 billion foreign capital injection after announcing a further $10 billion in write-downs on subprime holdings.

Europe's No. 4 bank also said it now expected a fourth-quarter loss and might post a net loss for the year.

UBS, which has a major U.S. presence and operates in more than 50 other countries, said the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., or GIC, invested $9.8 billion and an unnamed Middle East investor contributed $1.8 billion.

Market participants speculated the second investor was Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which had also invested in Citigroup Inc., or the government of Oman, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Citigroup expects to write off between $8 billion and $11 billion.

GIC now owns 9 percent of UBS and the Mideast investor owns 1.5 percent, the Zurich bank said.

UBS said it had not ruled out giving board seats to the new investors.

"Our losses in the U.S. mortgage securities market are substantial," UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel said.

Ospel added he would forgo a bonus this year. He also said he was under no pressure from the bank's board to resign.

The bank also replaced plans for a cash dividend with a stock dividend.