Bonus Watch '14: UBS

It's going to be a cold, dark bonus season at the Swiss bank, thanks to the foreign currency double-teamers who had to ruin things for the whole group.

UBS has been ordered to cap bonuses for foreign-exchange and precious-metals bankers as Switzerland’s regulator probes 11 of the bank’s current and former employees as part of its inquiry into currency rigging. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or Finma, is investigating the spot-trading desk based near Zurich, where the investment bank is located. The unit employed about 14 people in the period under probe, and Finma is questioning individuals including senior managers of foreign-exchange and precious-metals trading, it said...Finma capped variable compensation for UBS’s foreign-exchange and precious metals employees to 200 percent of basic salaries for two years and UBS will be obliged to automate at least 95 percent of its foreign-exchange trading...It also said UBS will introduce a review and approval process for other employees at the investment bank in Switzerland whose bonuses are larger than twice their basic salaries.

UBS to Curb Bonuses Amid Swiss Currency Probe of Staff [Bloomberg]