by Patrick Winters and Marion Halftermeyer
Yahoo! Finance
(Bloomberg) — UBS Group AG is offering some of its wealthiest clients in Switzerland a temporary break from negative interest rates in a bid to attract assets as the coronavirus crisis wreaks havoc on markets.
The world’s largest wealth manager is offering a payment holiday of several months to clients that plan to eventually invest some of their cash holdings, according to people familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity to discuss internal information.
A spokesman for UBS declined to comment.
UBS last year led the way in passing on negative rates to rich clients, but the policy has led to outflows — $16 billion were pulled in the first quarter to avoid charges — and is making it harder to attract new money in the current crisis.