ZURICH - Swiss watchmaking giant Swatch Group is taking legal action against UBS bank over losses on its investments, a Swiss newspaper reported on Thursday.

"After UBS made no effort to solve the problem, we have lodged a complaint against it. We will make sure our rights are respected," Swatch chief executive Nick Hayek told the Tages Anzeiger.

The daily reported that Swatch is seeking 30 million Swiss francs (S$39.4 million) from Switzerland's banking giant after the losses suffered on "absolute return" investments during the financial crisis.

Such investments were generally billed in the banking industry as providing a relatively stable return even through market downturns.

Tages Anzeiger listed several absolute return funds offered by different financial services companies that had posted losses of 30 percent or more over three years.