2matters on the record across its booking centres, 2016 to 2020
1.8/512 UHNW client ratings across its booking centres
The editor's opinion
Why UBP rates 1.2 out of 5
UBP rates 1.2 out of 5. The figure combines the ratings of its two rated booking centres (Switzerland, three stars; Singapore, one star), each weighted by the number of UHNW client ratings it has received, so a centre where more families bank counts for more. Switzerland is the strongest at three stars; Singapore is the weakest at one star. Its booking entities carry two matters on the record, the most recent in 2020; each is listed below with the centre it concerns. Across its booking centres, 12 UHNW client ratings average 1.8 out of 5.
Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026, Q4 2026 edition. Each booking centre is rated on its own file, from the public record and what clients and their advisers tell us in confidence. The overall rating brings those ratings together; retail products, branches and apps play no part.
Where UBP stands out
Remediation of past findings has been verified by the regulator. All centres
Custody assets are protected by statute in the booking centre, with conditions a family should read. Switzerland
Deposits are covered by a statutory protection scheme. Switzerland
A dedicated desk serves external asset managers and family offices. Switzerland
Most fees are published. Switzerland
Ownership and control are fully public. Singapore
No politically exposed person holds a significant stake. Singapore
What to weigh
A significant regulatory finding stands on the record in the last ten years. All centres
Only a summary of the custody terms is public. Switzerland
No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions. Switzerland
There is no published list of what this booking centre offers private clients. Switzerland
The official assessment of the owners' home jurisdiction is not yet on file. Switzerland
Deposit protection is minimal. Singapore
Few private banking services are published for this booking unit. Singapore
No fee schedule is published; pricing is given on request. Singapore
This file does not yet show how custody assets are ring-fenced by law in this centre. Singapore
The terms that would govern custody of your assets are not public. Singapore
Switzerland · Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA1 client rating · 8% of the weight
Singapore · Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA, Singapore Branch11 client ratings · 92% of the weight
PPLI.com rating, weighted across the centres1.2
Each booking centre keeps its own rating, set on its own file. The overall rating is the average of those ratings, weighted by the number of UHNW client ratings each centre has received. A centre whose rating is still in preparation is shown but not counted.
The rating expresses the opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown. It is not a statement of fact about the bank, not a credit rating, not a forecast of failure and not investment advice.
The booking centres
UBP in 2 booking centres
Each booking centre is a separate legal entity, with its own licence, deposit protection, services and fees, and keeps its own PPLI.com rating. Everything on file for them is brought together on this page; open a centre for its own file.
What regulators, prosecutors and courts have decided against the booking entities of UBP, gathered from the files of all its booking centres, with the status, the amounts as published and a link to the original document. Each entry names the centre it concerns. Claims and investigations still under way are marked as open.
20202 January 2020
Addendum to the Swiss Bank Program non-prosecution agreement: additional payment for further US-related accounts
The US Department of Justice announced an addendum to UBP's 2016 non-prosecution agreement: Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA pays a further USD 14 million for 97 additional US-related accounts. The release is dated 2 January 2020 (the 6 January date in earlier tables is the original agreement's anniversary, not this release); the signing date is not stated separately.
Pursuant to today's agreement, UBP will pay an additional sum of $14,000,000
Swiss Bank Program Category 2 non-prosecution agreement
UBP entered a Swiss Bank Program non-prosecution agreement covering about 2,919 US-related accounts (1,282 acquired through purchases of other banks) with peak assets of USD 4.895 billion, and paid a USD 187.767 million penalty.
Matters concerning other entities in the group (1)
20159 June 2015
Predecessor matter: Swiss Bank Program non-prosecution agreement of Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA
Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA entered a Swiss Bank Program non-prosecution agreement in June 2015 covering about 375 US-related accounts and paid USD 17.807 million. The conduct predates UBP's 2025 acquisition of Société Générale's Swiss private banking business and is not a UBP finding.
respondent (acquired business, before acquisition)
SGPB-Suisse will pay a penalty of $17.807 million.
What clients meet at UBP across its booking centres, read from complaint registers, ombudsman decisions and court records, independent reporting and what clients and their advisers tell PPLI.com in confidence. Announcements by the bank, awards and marketing material are left out.
UHNW client ratings
1.8 out of 5, based on 12 client ratings across its booking centres.
Switzerland3.0 out of 51 rating
Singapore1.7 out of 511 ratings
What clients report
Switzerland. Its US Swiss Bank Program agreement of January 2016 was followed in January 2020 by an addendum under which the bank paid a further USD 14 million because it should have disclosed additional US-related accounts when it signed.
Singapore. The bank's record that concerns clients is the US Swiss Bank Program resolution of January 2016, under which it paid USD 187.767 million for helping US clients keep undeclared accounts, and the further USD 14 million it paid in January 2020 for 97 US-client accounts it had not disclosed. Press coverage reports no data breach or client-money incident at the Singapore branch.
Worth raising with the bank
Switzerland. Ask what lies behind the negative outlook on the bank's Moody's Aa2 deposit rating, confirmed in July 2025, and what would trigger a downgrade.
Switzerland. Ask whether the review that led to the January 2020 addendum and the further USD 14 million payment covered all US-related accounts, and whether any US tax matter remains open.
Singapore. Ask what the bank changed in its account disclosure controls after paying a further USD 14 million in January 2020 for 97 US-client accounts left out of its 2016 disclosures.
Financial standing
Credit ratings published by the agencies for the companies named in the centre files, dated by the latest agency or bank document that confirms them
UBP agreed to buy Société Générale's Swiss private bank and SG Kleinwort Hambros for about EUR 900 million, adding more than CHF 25 billion to assets under management of CHF 150.8 billion, with closing expected by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
UBP agreed to pay a further USD 14 million to US authorities for 97 US-client accounts it had not disclosed under its 2016 non-prosecution agreement.
What it costs
What UBP charges, centre by centre
Fees are set by each booking entity, so they are shown centre by centre. One of the two centres of UBP publishes a fee schedule, read on 6 November 2026 from the documents linked under each table. To compare banks fairly we put every published fee in US dollars at the same indicative rates and apply it to the same reference amounts, then rate each fee against the average of the other banks that publish it. Five stars is the lowest fee, one star the highest. Terms a family actually negotiates are often different, and a bank can change its schedule at any time.
Switzerland · Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SACentre file
The reference relationship, at UBP's list prices
USD 206,500 a year
83 basis points for custody and a discretionary mandate (custody USD 81,500, discretionary mandate USD 125,000)
With the trades, conversions and transfers of the reference year added at list price: about USD 284,750 a year, 114 basis points.
against 22 other banks on custody and mandate fees
Price level of the published fees12 fees compared with the other banks that publish them
Fee
UBP
Other banks
Against the others
Custody and safekeepingeffective rate on USD 25 million
0.33% a year0.35% at USD 10m, 0.30% at USD 50m; stated as a maximum Source
0.29% a yearaverage of 38 other banks
above the average
Discretionary mandateeffective rate on USD 12.5 million, balanced profile
1.00% a year1.00% at USD 10m, 0.91% at USD 50m; stated as a maximum Source
1.24% a yearaverage of 25 other banks
below the average
Advisory mandateeffective rate on USD 12.5 million
0.55% a year0.56% at USD 10m, 0.44% at USD 50m; stated as a maximum Source
0.95% a yearaverage of 21 other banks
among the lowest
Equity tradecommission on a USD 250,000 trade, major exchange
Singapore · Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA, Singapore BranchCentre file
Pricing not published
No fee schedule is published for this booking centre.
How the comparison works: USD 25 million booked with the bank: half under a discretionary balanced mandate, half in custody with advice; 24 equity trades of USD 250,000 and 8 bond trades of USD 500,000 a year; 6 currency conversions of USD 1 million; 24 outgoing international transfers. Tiered fees are applied to those amounts tranche by tranche, stated minimums are applied, and amounts are converted at indicative rates of 2026-11-06. Read how we compare fees.
The bank at a glance
Identity, protection and services
Ownership
Group parentCBI Holding SA, Geneva (controlled by the de Picciotto family) Source
Controlde Picciotto family, 98.99%; family owned Source (31 December 2024)
Holder of 10% or moreCBI Holding SA, 100% in Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA Source (31 December 2024)
Ownership is shown as published, with its date. It describes who owns the bank; it does not, by itself, suggest any wrongdoing by the bank or its owners.
SingaporeUnion Bancaire Privée, UBP SA, Singapore BranchMAS · Branch of Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA · LEI 549300VC6IRQ4ONXWV33Licence: Wholesale Bank; also Exempt Capital Markets Services Entity, Exempt Financial Adviser, Exempt Trust Company Source
Offered at one or more booking centresOffered by the group, not confirmed at a centreNot located, which does not mean unavailable Checked on the bank's own pages for each centre.
Access and costs
Minimum relationshipSwitzerland:Not published Singapore:Not published
US personsSwitzerland: Accepted with restrictions Singapore: Accepted with restrictions
Fee scheduleSwitzerland: Published, May 2024; effective 1 May 2024 SourceCompared below Singapore:Not published
Third party paymentsSwitzerland: Not published Singapore: Not published
Transfer out termsSwitzerland: Not published Singapore: Not published
Protection of client assets
Deposit protectionSwitzerland: All banks with a Swiss office must be members of esisuisse: privileged deposits are protected up to CHF 100,000 per client per bank, including non-resident clients and foreign currency deposits, within a system cap. Singapore: Wholesale banks and merchant banks are not members of the SDIC Deposit Insurance Scheme, so deposits booked here carry no Singapore deposit insurance. Only eligible Singapore-dollar deposits are insured; deposits in US dollars or other currencies are not covered.
Custody lawSwitzerland: Swiss Banking Act art. 37d: custody assets held for clients are separated from the bankrupt bank's estate and handed over to the clients, with privileged deposits protected under arts. 37a and 37h. Singapore: Not published
Custody termsNot published
Before opening an account
Custody agreement. The applicable legal framework is set out above. Ask for the agreement that would govern your account and check how securities are titled, whether any sub-custodian is used, and when the bank may take a lien.
Reporting to the family office. The bank lists a desk for external asset managers. Ask for a sample statement or data export and confirm whether it includes positions, transactions, accrued income and all currencies held. Switzerland
Exit costs. The fee comparison shows USD 65 per position for a securities transfer. Ask what rate would apply to your mandate and whether the receiving bank or a sub-custodian would charge separately. See published fees. Switzerland
Working with your adviser. The external-manager capability is documented at group level. Ask which entity would sign the mandate, whether your manager can trade directly, and which instructions must come from you. Singapore
Transferring assets out. Ask which positions can be transferred without selling them, who approves exceptions, and how charges are calculated for each position and market. Singapore
Your experience
Rate UBP
If you bank with UBP in any of its booking centres, or advise clients who do, your experience forms part of its PPLI.com rating. Please say which centre you deal with. Every response is read by the editor and treated in strict confidence.
Before we publish a significant negative finding that is not already public, we give the bank the facts and time to comment, on the same timetable for every bank. Decisions of regulators and courts are shown as they were published. Corrections we verify are published with the date of the change. Write to [email protected] quoting the reference of the booking centre concerned: Switzerland BK-CH-UBP-B36E13; Singapore BK-SG-UBP-SG-72C363.
Reviewing this file with us
Families and their advisers read this file before they open an account. It can only be as complete as the documents we can find, and much of what sets a private bank apart, from its custody terms to the way a client team works, is rarely published.
If you represent UBP, one of our Bank Intelligence analysts can go through the file with you: correct anything that is out of date, add terms and documents that are not yet public, and set out what has improved since our last edition. The review is a paid engagement for the analyst's time and research.
The rating itself stays with our editor and follows what the documents show, so we cannot promise a particular result. When a review changes the file, this page notes that the bank took part, with the date and what was added.
Brought together by the PPLI.com research desk from the files of its booking centres and the public sources listed. The rating is our editorial opinion; read how the overall rating is built.
Important information. Editorial opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown, based on public information, client experience and editorial judgment. Not a statement of fact, a credit rating or investment, legal, tax or financial advice; verify with the bank and your own advisers before acting. No liability is accepted for reliance on this content. Bank names and logos are used for identification only. Ratings are updated every quarter. This is the Q4 2026 edition, and a rating can change between editions if something material happens. Full disclaimer
Rating signed by Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026Methodology 2.4Overall rating weighted by UHNW client ratings
Read our Privacy Policy before submitting. Share only the information needed to describe your question; do not include medical records or account credentials.
