UBS chair Colm Kelleher and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent have privately discussed moving the bank’s headquarters to the US, as the Zurich-based lender explores contingency plans to leave Switzerland if the government does not back down on new capital rules.

Kelleher and Bessent held talks in recent months about what a move to the US would look like for the lender, with the Trump administration receptive to welcoming one of Switzerland’s most prized assets, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

The talks with Bessent are part of an ongoing effort by Kelleher to put pressure on the Swiss government over proposed capital requirements that would force UBS to hold an additional $26bn of capital, a move UBS has described as “extreme” and disproportionate.