UBS, one of the biggest and best-known companies in lower Fairfield County, has been moving employees out of its vast offices in Stamford and is looking at office space in the new World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, according to various reports.
A departure by UBS from Stamford would be a blow to the city and the financial services economy of Fairfield County.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford for the past 14 years, had said relatively little about the company's plans until asked Thursday by reporters at the state Capitol.
"I think UBS is the best spokesman for what they are or are not doing,'' Malloy said. "For the most part, they have denied rumors. They have indicated that, from time to time, positions switch between states. I've been in contact with them, and my DECD commissioner has been in contact with them. I'd say it's fair to say that she and I have had more contact with them than they had for a long period of time prior to my being governor. These are decisions that, ultimately, companies make.''
He added, "What I've been told is there are constantly jobs moving between places. There are jobs that come, jobs that go. As has been reported, they don't own the building that they are in. They're a tenant.''
"Am I worried about it? I'm going to share a story with you. You might notice that I have my hair cut today,'' said Malloy, who had gotten his hair trimmed in his hometown of Stamford. "My barber told me that while he was cutting my hair is that they told him that they were going to be out of the state months ago - and he's still cutting their hair. So I think there's a lot of internal rumor, a lot of external rumor, a lot of barbershop rumor, and I think, ultimately, the only folks who can speak in definitive terms is UBS itself.''
But UBS has not been talking, declining to provide details on its future plans.