Switzerland's second-largest bank UBS will stop sponsoring the Hong Kong Open golf tournament after this November, the Zurich-based company said in a statement.
UBS has backed the $2.5 million Hong Kong tournament since 2005, and event organisers are searching for a title sponsor to take over after this year’s edition. The bank received a $59.2 billion bailout from the Swiss government following the global financial crisis.
"UBS is extremely proud of the central role it has played in establishing the Hong Kong Open as one of the most prestigious championships in Asian golf," said chairman of UBS in Asia-Pacific Rory Tapner in a statement.
Europe's biggest bank HSBC may not renew its backing of Asia's richest women's event, the HSBC Champion women's tournament. Head of sponsorship at HSCB Giles Morgan said the bank will decide in the next two months whether to continue backing the tournament, held the past two years in Singapore.
"Whatever our business needs, sponsorship will simply attach itself to help in that," Morgan said. "That is the process. There is no other process. We're not a golf brand."
Banks are among professional golf's biggest supporters, with most reviewing their sponsorships amid the global financial crisis.
