Swiss financial watchdog reorganises itself

Finma reorganises itself Keystone-SDA

Following the Credit Suisse debacle, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is adapting its organisation. Among other things, it wants to carry out more of its own on-site inspections.

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FINMA is preparing itself organisationally for future challenges, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. It is creating a new cross-divisional division for “Integrated Risk Expertise”, and the “Markets” and “Asset Management” divisions are being merged. The new structure is effective immediately.

The aim is for the authority to “fulfil its mandate to protect financial market clients and the functioning of the financial markets even more effectively”. In the new division, FINMA wants to build up more expertise in financial and non-financial risks, and supervision is to be “more in-depth and direct” – in particular through more on-site inspections. The supervision of banks, insurance companies and asset managers should thus be enforced more effectively.

More risk expertise

Following the Credit Suisse crisis and the eventual downfall of Switzerland’s second-largest bank, FINMA was heavily criticised for not raising the alarm and taking action quickly enough. Since then, there has been a debate about what additional instruments are needed for financial market supervision. For example, FINMA itself is calling for the authority to issue fines or a “senior manager regime” that would make managers more accountable.

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The new “Integrated Risk Expertise” division now bundles cross-cutting topics and risk control expertise – such as liquidity, capital and stress tests, credit risks, money laundering and sustainable finance. On-site controls are also located here.

The division will be headed by Marianne Bourgoz Gorgé, previously Head of the Asset Management division. Bourgoz Gorgé joined FINMA in 2022. She has worked in the risk area at various banks, most recently as Head of Risk at Geneva Cantonal Bank for eight years.

Léonard Bôle, who has been Head of the Markets division since 2014 and is responsible for the supervision of financial market infrastructures, will take over the merged Asset Management and Markets division.

Reacting at an early stage

The new structure promotes the goal of preventive supervision, which maximises the impact on supervised institutions, according to Stefan Walter, who has been FINMA director for a year. Since taking office, Walter has repeatedly emphasised the importance of identifying problems at an early stage and being able to intervene as quickly as possible – and not just “putting out the fire when it is already blazing”.

+Who’s to blame for the demise of Credit Suisse?

Meanwhile, there is a prominent departure in management: Birgit Rutishauser, Deputy Director and Head of the Insurance Division, is leaving the authority at the end of April. According to a separate press release, after almost nine years at FINMA she will be taking a new direction in her career.

Rutishauser headed FINMA on an interim basis from October 2023 for six months after the then director Urban Angehrn resigned following the Credit Suisse crisis. According to the statement, Vera Carspecken will take over the management of the insurance division on an interim basis from May 1, 2025.

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Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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