UBS bank reports huge switch back into profit

Swiss bank UBS, in the midst of a refocusing of its activities, reported a huge switch back into profit last year and accelerating performance in the last quarter, in a statement on Tuesday. The bank took huge losses from the financial crisis and, in common with Swiss banks in general, is having to adjust to a new Swiss banking climate on many fronts and notably owing to an opening up of Swiss banking secrecy. Last year it made a net profit of 3.2 billion Swiss francs (2.5 billion euros, ($3.38 billion) from a loss of 2.4 billion francs in 2012. This was partly because the results in 2012 were set back by a fine by regulatory authorities over an international scandal concerning the rigging of the Libor interbank interest rate. But the bank also began to benefit from a massive reorganisation of its businesses, announced in October 2012.