US tax reform writedown pushes Switzerland's UBS to Q4 loss

Swiss bank UBS has reported a 2.22 billion-franc ($2.3 billion) loss for the fourth quarter as a result of a large writedown caused by the newly enacted U.S. tax reform.

UBS said Monday it wrote down nearly 2.87 billion francs in deferred tax assets due to the reform. It said it would have had a 641 million-franc profit without the charge.

However, the bank said the overall picture last year was "excellent." CEO Sergio Emotti said: "We delivered stronger financial results and met our net cost reduction target."

UBS said in March it will start a three-year share buyback program worth up to 2 billion francs — up to 550 million francs of that this year. It is proposing a 2017 dividend of 0.65 francs per share, an 8 percent increase.