UBS AG
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UBS results in fourth quarter 2008
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Notes
Notes

Note 1 Basis of accounting
Note 1 Basis of accounting

UBS AG's (UBS) consolidated financial information (financial information) is prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and stated in Swiss francs (CHF). The interim Financial Information is unaudited. In preparing the interim financial information, the same accounting principles and methods of computation are applied as in the Financial Statements on 31 December 2007 and for the year then ended except for the changes set out below. This fourth quarter interim financial information should be read in conjunction with the audited Financial Statements included in the UBS Annual Report 2007. It is not fully in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting. It does not include a cash flow statement and certain explanatory notes, which will be included in UBS's annual report for 2008, to be published on 19 March 2009. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position and results of operations for the interim periods have been made.

For fair value measurements applied at 31 December 2008, UBS provides complementary information note 10 of this report and UBS's annual report for 2008, to be published on 19 March 2009.

IFRS 2 Share-based Payment: Vesting Conditions and Cancellations

On 1 January 2008, UBS adopted an amendment to IFRS 2 Share-based Payment: Vesting Conditions and Cancellations and fully restated the two comparative prior years. The amended standard clarifies the definition of vesting conditions and the accounting treatment of cancellations. Under the amended standard, UBS is required to distinguish between vesting conditions (such as service and performance conditions) and non-vesting conditions.

The amended standard no longer considers vesting conditions to include certain non-compete provisions.

The impact of this change is that UBS compensation awards are expensed over the period that the employee is required to provide active services in order to earn the award. Post-vesting sale and hedge restrictions and non-vesting conditions are considered when determining grant date fair value. The effect of the restatement on the opening balance sheet at 1 January 2006 was as follows: reduction of retained earnings by approximately CHF 2.3 billion, increase of share premium by approximately CHF 2.3 billion, increase of liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities) by approximately CHF 0.5 billion, and increase of deferred tax assets by approximately CHF 0.5 billion. Additional compensation expense of CHF 797 million and CHF 516 million was recognized in 2007 and 2006, respectively. The implementation of the amended IFRS 2 resulted in the following increases of compensation expenses previously reported in the quarterly Financial Statements 2007: CHF 280 million, CHF 124 million, CHF 79 million and CHF 314 million for the quarters ended 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007 and 31 December 2007, respectively. These additional compensation expenses include awards granted in 2008 for the performance year 2007. The impact of the restatement on total equity as of 31 December 2007 was a decrease of CHF 366 million. Retained earnings at 31 December 2007 decreased by approximately CHF 3.9 billion, share premium increased by approximately CHF 3.5 billion, liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities) increased by approximately CHF 0.6 billion and deferred tax assets increased by approximately CHF 0.2 billion. The restatement decreased basic and diluted earnings per share as follows: CHF 0.12, CHF 0.03, CHF 0.01 and CHF 0.24 for the quarters ended 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007 and 31 December 2007, respectively. In order to provide comparative information, these amounts also reflect the retrospective adjustments to shares outstanding in 2007 due to the capital increase and the share dividend paid in 2008.

The additional compensation expense is attributable to the acceleration of expense related to share-based awards as well as for certain alternative investment vehicle awards and deferred cash compensation awards which contain non-compete provisions and sale and hedge restrictions that no longer qualify as vesting conditions under the amended standard.

Changes to segment reporting

UBS has continuously reduced its private equity business in Industrial Holdings over the last three years. The business no longer includes consolidated industrial private equity investments.

Starting first quarter 2008, UBS is reporting the remaining activities from this business, mainly financial investments available-for-sale, under the Corporate Center.

Recognition of a defined benefit asset for the Swiss pension plan

In third quarter 2008, UBS concluded that it meets the requirements in IAS 19 Employee Benefits to recognize a defined benefit asset associated with its Swiss pension plan. Prior to this, it had been UBS policy to only disclose this amount in the Note "Pension and Other Post-Retirement Benefit Plans" of UBS's annual report for 2007. UBS concluded that recognition of an asset should also consider unrecognized net actuarial losses and past service cost as permitted by IAS 19 as this results in a better reflection of the corridor approach.

UBS has considered this a change in accounting policy to be applied retrospectively as required by IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors. The change in accounting policy resulted in the following effects on the balance sheets for 1 January 2007, 31 December 2007, 30 September 2008 and 31 December 2008: an increase of approximately CHF 2.1 billion in Other assets, an increase of approximately CHF 0.5 billion in Deferred tax liabilities and an increase of approximately CHF 1.6 billion in Retained earnings. There was no material impact to the income statements or earnings per share for these periods.

Reclassifications of financial instruments

In October 2008, the IASB published certain amendments to IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement and IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures. Under certain circumstances, the amendments to IAS 39 permit financial assets to be reclassified out of the category "held for trading" (fair value through profit or loss) if UBS has the intent and ability to hold the financial asset for the foreseeable future or until maturity. Financial assets are permitted to be reclassified to the category "loans and receivables" carried at amortized cost less impairment or to the category "available-for-sale" carried at fair value through equity with impairment recognized in profit and loss.

In fourth quarter 2008, UBS reclassified certain financial assets that meet the criteria set forth in the amended standard. Refer to note 11 of this report for further information on assets subject to reclassification.

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