EBK raising capital requirements

LUGANO, Switzerland (Reuters) - The Swiss federal banking regulator EBK is in the process of raising capital reserve requirements for investment banks, its president said in an interview published on Sunday.

"We have already required an extra buffer from the banks for a long time, which is more than the minimum requirements," EBK President Eugen Haltiner told Swiss newspaper Sonntag.

"We are now in the process of raising this buffer level even higher for risk-sensitive businesses, in particular investment banking," Haltiner said.

UBS AG (UBSN.VX), Switzerland's biggest bank, is Europe's hardest-hit victim of the credit crisis, with write-downs of some $37 billion. Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.VX) has been forced to write down some $10 billion due to credit related woes.

When asked if there would be sanctions against UBS managers, Haltiner said: "We have not yet finished our investigations. If there are questions of responsibility, they will be addressed."

But he said the credit crisis had eased slightly.

"The risk premiums (spreads) are falling back, liquidity is improving. Maybe this recovery is just an intermediate high point, and growth development could still correct that appraisal," Haltiner said.

(Reporting by Sam Cage; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)