Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave no assurances he could influence any decision by UBS AG to keep jobs in Stamford, after reports surfaced from Europe that the giant would move its investment banking operation to the World Trade Center in New York City when construction there is completed in 2015.
Reuters attributed the information to an unidentified source in Switzerland where UBS is based, and said Connecticut”™s coming tax increases did not play a role in the decision. The company has more than 4,000 employees in Stamford in investment banking, securities trading and wealth management, making it one of the largest employers in Fairfield County.
The bank has not confirmed any major move to New York; UBS”™ lease in Stamford expires in 2017. In multiple reports in the past two weeks, UBS spokespeople have reiterated statements on previous occasions to the Fairfield County Business Journal and the Stamford Advocate: that it routinely evaluates its space needs without specifying whether it will maintain Stamford as a major work site.
Malloy said that is about all he knows as well, even after multiple discussions between he, bank executives and Catherine Smith, Malloy”™s new commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).
“I think UBS is the best spokesman for what they are ”“ or are not ”“ doing,” Malloy said, during a press conference in early June. “For the most part, they have denied rumors. ”¦ I”™ve been in contact with them; my DECD commissioner has been in contact with them. I”™d say it”™s fair to say she and I have had more contact with them than they had for a long period of time prior to my being governor.
“What I”™ve been told is that there is constantly jobs moving between places, sometimes depending on who is the leader of a particular area,” Malloy added. “There”™s jobs that come, there”™s jobs that go and that”™s an ongoing and dynamic situation. As has been reported, they don”™t own the building they”™re in. They are a tenant and I think as they have previously stated in their own public statements ”¦ they”™re evaluating their options.”
The UBS news broke even as Malloy noted Connecticut General Assembly approval for his proposed “First Five” incentive program for companies that add at least 200 jobs in Connecticut. He did not say whether the program could be applied in cases in which a company has already received significant past incentives but holds out the threat of leaving the state short of a new deal.
“It is our understanding the company has made no long-term decisions as to the future of its operations,” said Catherine Smith, DECD commissioner, in a statement forwarded by a DECD spokesman. “As part of our discussions with the company we have made very clear the state”™s commitment to seeing UBS maintain and grow its operations in the state and ensuring our financial services sector maintains its competitive edge.”™
Malloy said despite the reports, he is not convinced that a move is a done deal.
“While I was down in Stamford, I visited my barber,” Malloy said. “And my barber told me while he was cutting my hair ”¦ what he had been told by a number of people whose hair he cuts ”“ that they told him that they were going to be out of the state months ago. He”™s still cutting their hair and they now say they have no idea what they are doing. So I think there”™s a lot of internal rumor, a lot of external rumor ”“ a lot of barber-shop rumor. And I think ultimately the only folks who can speak in definitive terms is UBS itself.”
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