UBS gears up for slow getaway

Getaways are supposed to be quick. Traditionally, a car stands idling by the kerb with its doors open while a jittery driver smokes behind the wheel, ready to speed into the night.

Judging by much of the press coverage – and the stock market reaction – this is exactly what UBS managed to achieve after announcing on October 30 that it was ditching the capital-intensive bits of its fixed-income franchise. Some reports already use the past tense when speaking of UBS’s involvement in that business –