Tuesday brought more bad news from top banks as a result of the global credit crisis.

Switzerland's UBS reported $19 billion of additional writedowns on US property and related assets, pushing it $12 billion into the red in the first quarter. The bank will seek a $15.1 billion capital hike. UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel, 58, who led the creation of UBS in a merger a decade ago, resigned and will be succeeded by 58-year-old general counsel Peter Kurer.

"I ultimately take responsibility for the bank's situation,'' Ospel said in a statement. "With the measures that we have already taken, the proposals we are submitting to the annual general meeting and the processes we have put in place to deal with lessons learned, I believe that I have made all necessary contributions.''

Meanwhile Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann warned investors on Tuesday that conditions had deteriorated in recent weeks and said the bank would write down €2.5 billion ($3.9 billion) in the first quarter. "Conditions have become significantly more challenging during the last few weeks," Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, said in a statement on Tuesday.

But it added that its capital base remained strong and that it expected its Tier 1 capital ratio -- a measure of financial health -- to stay between 8 and 9 percent. This makes it unlikely Deutsche Bank will seek a capital increase.

The losses came as a surprise as Deutsche Bank had appeared to be weathering the crisis which led to the near-collapse of US rival Bear Stearns last month.

Rising US mortgage defaults have caused over $200 billion in credit losses and writedowns at financial companies. According to Germany's Financial Services Authority BaFin, it will likey go much higher . According to an internal report seen by SPIEGEL, BaFin thinks that worldwide writedowns as a result of the finance crisis could end up totalling $600 billion.