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Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss bank UBS holds a regular Investors Day Tuesday 17 November in Zurich and speculation is running high among media and analysts about what it will say to them. The plan to move the bank back to profitability is undoubtedly high on the list, with Bloomberg suggesting that Oswald Gruebel, chairman, “will probably list hiring in fixed-income as a key element in his turnaround plan,” because the bank is likely to count on its investment bank’s trading of debt securities to pull it out of debt. The Wall Street Journal says investors will be watching Robert McCann, new head of the US wealth management unit, for signs of what the bank plans to do there, and whether Gruebel intends to sell off the unit at some point.

And Reuters quotes SonntagsBlick, which spoke with Swiss bank regulator Finma, whose head Patrick Raaflaub says that UBS has not asked to buy back any of the toxic assets it turned over to the Swiss National Bank in late 2008 as part of its bailout. He told the Swiss newspaper that the bank’s capital base is clearly better, which the Swiss National Bank also noted last week.

Jobs are likely to come under fire, with newspaper Sonntag writing Sunday 15 November that the bank is expected to announce another 2,500 jobs slated to go, in additon to 8,700 announced earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, alsoTuesday 17 November, officials at the Swiss federal tax office are holding a press conference in Bern to explain the criteria used to turn over details of 4,450 UBS client names to the IRS. The office told GenevaLunch recently it has been planning to open a hotline for US clients of UBS who are concerned their names may be turned over; details of this are likely to be shared Tuesday as well. The Swiss government held off providing this information until the IRS 15 October deadline for non-compliant taxpayers passed, in order not to interfere.

Bloomberg reports, based on an interview with a lawyer in Florida, USA, that the criteria used in Switzerland may well be a template the IRS is using in other countries and with other banks.

Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Straits Times, Wealth Bulletin/Wall St Journal