Swiss exchange investigates UBS

UBS is trying to rebuild its reputation after heavy losses

Switzerland's stock exchange is investigating banking giant UBS for possible breaches of public disclosure rules during the financial crisis.

The investigation will centre around information the bank published while it was contending with billions of dollars of bad loans in 2007 and 2008.

Switzerland's biggest bank declined to comment on the investigation.

Earlier this year, UBS was accused of helping Americans evade US taxes by opening accounts in Switzerland.

Reputation

The US authorities wanted the bank to hand over the names of thousands of customers with Swiss accounts.

Last month, it signed a deal with the US designed to end the dispute.

The Swiss banking giant will now give the US tax authorities the details of 4,450 accounts, US officials said.

In February, UBS admitted to tax fraud in the US and agreed to pay $780m (£467m) as part of a provisional deal to settle charges that it helped thousands of US clients use Swiss bank accounts to evade taxes.

The bank is trying to rebuild its reputation after the tax probe.

It has been hit particularly hard by the credit crisis, suffering from big losses in the US sub-prime mortgage market.

The bank reported a loss of 1.4bn Swiss francs ($1.36bn; £830m) between April and June, along with significant outflows of cash. It lost 2bn Swiss francs in the first three months of the year.