ZURICH (Reuters) -UBS on Tuesday announced it was launching a new share buyback programme of up to $2 billion, with up to half being completed in 2024.

The scheme will begin on Wednesday, April 3, the Swiss bank said.

The scheme follows the 2022 buyback, where UBS bought back 298.5 million of its shares - equivalent to 8.6% of its stock - for $5.2 billion.

Rather than being cancelled, most of the repurchased shares were used in last year's takeover of Credit Suisse.

Before the deal was announced, UBS had already repurchased nearly 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.32 billion) worth of its stock.

"As previously communicated, in 2024 we expect to repurchase up to $1bn of our shares, commencing after the completion of the merger of UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG which is expected to occur by the end of the second quarter," the bank said in a statement.

"Our ambition is for share repurchases to exceed our pre-acquisition level by 2026," it added.

($1 = 0.9062 Swiss francs)