UBS Breaks Out the Claws

Despite booking a fourth-quarter profit, UBS AG failed to hit its numbers for 2009, forcing the bank to exercise clawback provisions on several bankers' bonuses.

It's the first time a big bank has had to break out the claws since the provisions were enacted last year in response to government pressure on banks to minimize their risk-taking.

For 2009, UBS posted a loss of 2.74 billion Swiss francs, which wasn't all that bad considering it lost 21.3 billion francs in 2008.