Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti issued a thinly-veiled threat to relocate the bank, amid Switzerland’s plans to make it hold billions of dollars in extra capital.

“We are assessing the long term consequences for our ability to compete out of Switzerland because it is very clear for our clients,” Ermotti said on an analyst call on Wednesday. “I mean they do appreciate Switzerland like we do — but a passport is not enough nowadays.”Ermotti signaled that the bank is not going to take urgent decisions, even as the political wind on capital regulations continues to blow against them. Last month the upper house only marginally watered down a government bill to make the bank back all of the value of its foreign units with capital at home. The current version would foresee about $16 billion in extra requirements.

“There is no rush for us to take actions that are not in the interest of shareholders and clients because it is going to take time to implement this new regulation,” he said. “We are once more in a critical juncture where the course for the coming decades will be set for the Swiss financial center.”UBS is facing renewed political scrutiny in the coming weeks as the lower house of parliament takes the legislative baton on the government bill. The more left-leaning chamber is potentially even less likely to be sympathetic to UBS’s position than the upper house.

“September’s outcome in the upper house is very concerning,” Ermotti said. “Just as troubling is the failure to consider the consequences for our shareholders who remain the first line of defense in period of stress and whose critical financial support during the acquisition helped protect Switzerland’s reputation and financial stability,” Ermotti said.

On Monday, Ermotti, accompanied by UBS Vice Chairman Markus Ronner, spoke to the lower House’s Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee at a closed-door hearing in a sign of continuing efforts to persuade lawmakers to water down the legislation.