UBS faces uphill battle to regain ground after Hong Kong IPO ban lifted

HONG KONG (Reuters) - UBS Group AG is likely to have a hard time regaining ground lost in the 10 months it was banned from the big-money business of sponsoring IPOs in Hong Kong, where Chinese rivals have become formidable players, bankers and analysts said.The Swiss bank's unprecedented year-long ban ended two months early after regulators last week said standards had improved since it found due diligence failings during an industry-wide probe that has led to HK$900 million (89.2 million..