Note 1 Basis of Accounting

UBS AG’s (“UBS”) consolidated financial statements (“the Financial Statements”) are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and stated in Swiss francs (CHF). In preparing the interim Financial Statements, the same accounting principles and methods of computation are applied as in the Financial Statements at 31 December 2003 and for the year then ended except for the changes set out below. The interim Financial Statements are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods have been made. These interim Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Financial Statements included in the UBS Financial Report 2003.

UBS sponsors the formation of companies, which may or may not be directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries, for the purpose of asset securitization transactions and to accomplish certain narrow and well-defined objectives. These companies may acquire assets directly or indirectly from UBS or its affiliates. Some of these companies are bankruptcy-remote entities whose assets are not available to satisfy the claims of creditors of UBS or any of its subsidiaries. Such companies are consolidated in the Financial Statements when the relationship between UBS and the company indicates that it is controlled by UBS.

Changes in Accounting Policies

Financial Instruments
On 1 January 2004, UBS adopted revised IAS 32 “Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation” and revised IAS 39 “Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement” which were applied retrospectively to all financial instruments affected within the context of the two standards with the exception of the guidance relating to derecognition of financial assets and liabilities, which is applied prospectively. As a result of adopting the revised standards, UBS has restated prior period comparative information, as if the revised accounting standards had been in effect since the beginning of 2002, the earliest comparative prior period that will be presented with the audited Financial Statements to be included in the UBS Financial Report 2004.

Revised IAS 32 amends the accounting for certain derivative contracts linked to an entity’s own shares. Physically settled written put options and forward purchase contracts with UBS shares as underlying are recorded as liabilities, where at inception the present value of the obligation under the contract is debited against equity. The liability is subsequently accreted to the settlement amount using the effective interest rate method, thereby recording interest expense over the life of the contract. UBS currently has physically settled written put options linked to own shares that are now accounted for as liabilities. The impact on the income statement of all periods presented is insignificant. All other existing derivative contracts linked to own shares are accounted for as derivative instruments and are carried at fair value on the balance sheet under Positive replacement values or Negative replacement values.

Revised IAS 39 permits any financial instrument to be designated at inception, or at adoption of revised IAS 39, as carried at fair value through profit and loss. Upon adoption of revised IAS 39, UBS made that designation for the majority of its compound instruments issued. Previously, UBS separated the embedded derivative from the host contract and accounted for the separated derivative as a trading instrument. These instruments are now carried at fair value in their entirety with changes in fair value recorded in the income statement.

The guidance governing recognition and derecognition of a financial asset is considerably more complex under revised IAS 39 than previously and requires a multi-step decision process to determine whether derecognition is appropriate. UBS derecognizes financial assets for which it transfers the contractual rights to the cash flows and no longer retains any risk or reward coming from them nor maintains control over the financial assets. Accordingly, certain transactions are now accounted for as secured financing transactions instead of purchases or sales of trading portfolio assets with an accompanying swap derivative. The provisions of this guidance were applied prospectively as of 1 January 2004.

The effect of restating the income statement due to the adoption of revised IAS 32 and 39 on the comparative prior periods is a reduction of net profit by CHF 82 million for 2003 and a reduction of CHF 24 million for 2002. For the comparative fourth quarter of 2003, the effect on net profit was a reduction of CHF 49 million.

Investment properties

Effective 1 January 2004, UBS changed its accounting policy for investment property from historical cost less accumulated depreciation to the fair value model. All changes in the fair value of investment property are now recognized in the income statement, and depreciation expense is no longer recorded. Investment property is defined as property held exclusively to earn rental income and benefit from appreciation in value. Fair value of investment property is determined by appropriate valuation techniques employed in the real estate industry, taking into account the specific circumstances for each item. This change required restatement of the 2002 and 2003 comparative financial years. The effects of the restatement were as follows: For the full year 2003, net profit was reduced by CHF 64 million and for the full year 2002 net profit was increased by CHF 19 million. For the comparative fourth quarter of 2003, the effect on net profit was a reduction of CHF 2 million.

Credit risk losses incurred on OTC derivatives

Effective 1 January 2004, the method of accounting for credit risk losses incurred on over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives has been changed. All such credit risk losses are now reported in net trading income and are no longer reported in credit loss expense. This change did not affect net profit or earnings per share results. It did, however, affect segment reporting, as losses reported as credit loss expense were previously deferred over a three-year period in the Business Group segment reporting, whereas under the changed method of accounting, losses in trading income are not subject to such a deferral. In the segment report, therefore, losses on OTC derivatives are now reported as they are incurred. This change in accounting method affected to a minor extent certain balance sheet lines at 31 December 2003, which have been restated to conform to the current year presentation. The changed method of accounting had the following impact on the performance before tax of our Business Groups. In 2003, it reduced Wealth Management & Business Banking’s pretax performance by CHF 8 million. It raised the Investment Bank’s by CHF 37 million while Corporate Center’s fell by CHF 29 million. For the comparative fourth quarter of 2003, the effect on pre-tax performance was an increase of CHF 9 million at Investment Bank, a decrease of CHF 8 million at Wealth Management & Business Banking, and a decrease at Corporate Center of CHF 1 million.

Segment reporting

On 1 July 2004, UBS purchased an additional 20% interest in Motor-Columbus AG, which increased its overall ownership stake to 55.6%. Motor-Columbus has been consolidated as of 1 July 2004 when UBS gained control over the company. Due to its size and nature of business – production, distribution and trading of electricity – a new business segment, Industrial Holdings, was added, in which Motor-Columbus is reported.

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