UBS has paid $500m (€415m) for a 1.6% stake in the Bank of China, the Swiss bank said today. The shareholding in China's second-largest bank is part of UBS's plans to enter a strategic co-operation relationships covering investment banking and securities products.

However the bank would not comment on a report in the The Wall Street Journal that it is to take a 20% stake in Chinese brokerage firm Beijing Securities for around $210m.