BREAKING: UBS appears set to close Wholesale Lending

UBS Home Finance has increased it's costs on the it's Traditional 30-year conforming fixed rate product by a whooping 1.70% in 3 days.

We obtained two rate sheets, one from Monday of this week, and one from today (Thursday). On Monday, a 6.375% 30-year fixed rate conforming loan would have a 'cost' (without taking into account adjustments) of 0.936%. By Thursday this 'cost' had increased to 2.636%!

To put this in perspective, another Wholesale Lender is providing the same unadjusted Fannie/Freddie product for a rebate of 1.118%. The net difference is over 3.75% cost!

Here are some facts from the web site about the company:

UBS is the leading global wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, and one of the largest global asset

managers.

In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.

With headquarters in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS operates in over 50 countries and from all major international centers.

UBS employs more than 80,000 people.

If this type of pricing is designed to close down the division, it is expected to affect about 70 employees across the country. We understand that Underwriting is contracted out to a third party.

What we see is a pricing policy that is designed NOT to sell. The rate sheets we viewed were available online. You can view the rate sheet itself for Monday here, and the Wednesday sheet here. The rates we used for comparison are here. These rate sheets are not meant for consumer distribution.

We've seen some companies email employees a notice of termination. We've seen the conference call, and the 'let's have a really big meeting' this morning. Some divide them into two groups, others make you sign statements and answer funny questions just before dismissal.

The strategy above may be a new wrinkle in the art of downsizing. How long can someone hang on with this type of pricing? Tips we received suggests it's a matter of days.

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