Regulatory

In connection with the current overhaul of the Swiss financial market laws, the Federal Government has determined that it seeks an extension of the resolution authority of FINMA to bank holding companies and other important group companies, which are not currently subject to FINMA’s resolution powers. With this move, Switzerland accords to stipulations from the…

The draft revised Swiss Code of Best Practice published for public consultation on 5 June 2014, does not bring a change of scene. The changes are mainly related to the new Minder rules against excessive pay. Not unexpectedly, the draft retroactively implements the new realities instead of setting own standards. By Matthias Rey (Reference: CapLaw-2014-24)

As the consultation period for the preliminary draft of a Financial Market Infrastructure Act (E-FinfraG) reached its term, we survey the proposed regulation of providers of financial market infrastructure services. This new framework complements the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives described in previous articles (see CapLaw-2014-5 and CapLaw-2014-6). By Rashid Bahar/Roland Truffer (Reference: CapLaw-2014-13)

Worldwide investigations into manipulations of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) have resulted in settlements between regulators and banks with fines so far exceeding USD 6 billion in total. After a number of banks have admitted in deals struck with regulators to manipulating LIBOR by misreporting borrowing rates, numerous private claimants have followed suit by…

In August 2013, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA issued a position paper on the resolution of globally systemically important banks. With its new policy in relation to the importance of a bail-in strategy for large financial institutions FINMA joined regulators in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to focus on a bail in…

Two new pillars of financial markets regulation are currently being elaborated in Switzerland. The proposed laws will have a strong impact on banks, securities dealers, issuers and distributors of financial products, fund management companies, external asset managers, individual client advisors, and trading venues with respect to the legal structuring, distribution, trading, and clearing and settlement…

On 13 December 2013, the Federal Council launched the consultation on the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FMIA). In line with market developments and international requirements, FMIA adjusts the regulation of financial market infrastructure and introduces new rules on derivatives trading. This article, which continues a series of articles on FMIA, focuses on the new rules…

On 24 November 2013, the Swiss will have to vote on whether their employment compensation regime should become more egalitarian. A popular referendum promoted by the Young Socialist Party wants to limit executive compensation to 12 times the lowest salary within the same business undertaking. While a number of issues remain unclear at this stage,…

In recent years Switzerland has come under increased pressure to loosen its bank secrecy protection and allow foreign governments to obtain information on bank accounts held by its tax payers in Switzerland. After timid first steps initiated in 2009 to grant exchange of information in cases where the information is foreseeably relevant for the enforcement…