Swiss regulators mull bank stress test publication

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) - Swiss banking regulators are considering publishing stress test results for the country's biggest banks UBS and Credit Suisse, as the European Union prepares to publish stress tests for EU banks later this month.

Switzerland is a not a member of the EU and its banks therefore are not included in the EU tests, due to be published on July 23.

Swiss banking regulator FINMA was currently assessing whether to publish the results, FINMA spokesman Tobias Lux said on Thursday. Swiss authorities were in regular contact with their counterparts in the European Union on the issue.

In October, FINMA published general results from regular stress tests banks are subjected to in Switzerland, saying both UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) could weather a severe deterioration in the economy. [ID:nL2259274]

Any publication by FINMA would be in close consultation with the Swiss National Bank (SNB), which is in charge of overall financial stability in Switzerland.

In the October release, the regulator provided few details on the assumptions of the stress tests, saying only that the scenario included a worldwide recession accompanied by a significant deterioration in financial and property markets. The SNB published its assessment of the stability of the country's financial system in mid-June, saying the situation had improved overall but risks remained high.

The central bank called for yet another tightening of capital requirements for UBS and Credit Suisse in order to absorb losses in the case of another crisis and to limit the risk of a failure that could drag the economy down.

Switzerland led the global push for tighter bank rules after the government's bailout of UBS in autumn 2008, introducing higher capital requirements, a leverage ratio, a stricter liquidity regime and new rules for bankers' pay.

(Reporting by Sven Egenter; Editing by Susan Fenton)