A Swiss banking regulator has warned that the United States subprime crisis is not over and could spread to other credit markets, the Swissinfo website reported.

    "The subprime crisis could spread to other credit markets, such as in the fields of credit cards, consumer credit, car financing, student loans or commercial credit," said Daniel Zuberbuhler, head of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission.

    In an interview with local media, Zuberbuhler said that the danger to financial institutions was far from over.

    He said nobody could make predictions about developments in complicated credit markets with certainty, so "it is important that banks have a strong capital base."

    Zuberbuhler also sits on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets standards for internationally active banks and advises on how much capital they should set aside against risks.

    His warning came a week after Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, announced a further 10 billion-U.S.-dollar write down due to the ongoing deterioration of the U.S. mortgage market.

    UBS also announced a massive injection of funds from Singapore and the Middle East.

    The bank said it was responding to the "continued deterioration in the U.S. subprime mortgage securities market" but also taking into account worsening expectations of future developments.

    The write down followed a 3.7 billion -U.S.-dollar hit UBS suffered at the end of October that was also related to U.S. subprime mortgages.