Swiss bank UBS today said it was axing around 5,500 jobs as it revealed first quarter losses of 11.5 billion Swiss francs (€7bn).

Swiss banking giant UBS today announced a further $19bn US (€12.2bn) of writedowns related to the US sub-prime crisis.

Hotels and airlines moved to help thousands of stranded passengers today as the Swiss Government pressed Swissair and the largest banks to find a lasting solution to the sudden shutdown of the airline.