UBS signalled its willingness to take dramatic steps to overhaul its business in response to the financial crisis by holding talks late last year with Morgan Stanley over the sale of its US brokerage unit.

People close to the situation said the discussions over UBS Financial Services – acquired in 2000 in the $11.8bn purchase of PaineWebber, the US brokerage and investment bank – were preliminary and were unlikely to be rekindled.