To knock UBS Investment Bank too hard for its second-quarter performance would be churlish, with the division as a whole bucking a downward trend at rivals. Overall revenues edged up by 5% to Sfr4.1bn (€3bn).

By contrast, investment banking and trading revenues at Goldman Sachs fell 35%, while revenues at Morgan Stanley's institutional securities division slipped 16% and investment banking revenues at rival Credit Suisse slumped 21%.