Majority of Swiss population backs stronger capital rules for UBS, poll finds

ZURICH, June 18 (Reuters) - Most Swiss people support stricter capital rules for large banks like UBS, polling firm YouGov said on Thursday, citing a survey it described as representative of the adult resident population in Switzerland's two main language regions.

The poll found 79% of respondents clearly or somewhat in favour of tougher capital requirements for UBS even if this means the bank pays lower dividends or has to accept slower growth, with 9% clearly or somewhat against.

The rest were undecided in the poll of just over 1,000 people from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, which was conducted in early June.

UBS became Switzerland's sole global bank when it acquired Credit Suisse in 2023 in a government-engineered emergency takeover.

The bank has criticised government plans to require full backing of foreign units with Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital as "extreme," while lawmakers have been working on a compromise to strengthen financial stability and protect the lender's international competitiveness.

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi, Editing by Friederike Heine)