UBS is closing down its real estate and securitisation business as well as its exotic structured products operations as part of a radical restructuring of the investment bank’s fixed-income, currencies and commodities division to return it to profitability.

In an internal memo seen by Financial News, Carsten Kengeter and Jeff Mayer, joint global heads of FICC, told staff that following a review of the division's model, UBS will exit three business areas "as part of radical change that is needed to take FICC forward".