Swiss finance minister says stricter bank rules needed for trust

Karin Keller-Sutter said that the government wants to give new powers to the financial regulator Finma, and that she “wouldn’t exclude” that that will include the power to fine bankers.  Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said efforts to revamp banking regulation are designed to ensure trust in the nation’s financial centre and help it remain a world leader in the aftermath of Credit Suisse’s demise.

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“We have to find a balance between competitiveness on the one and the protection of the economy on the other side,” Keller-Sutter, 60, said at a Bloomberg event in Zurich on Thursday. “The government is really committed to having a competitive financial centre.”

The Swiss parliament is weeks away from releasing the results of a major inquiry into the near collapse and rescue of Credit Suisse over 18 months ago. The report will feed into government-backed reform proposals and will help determine the amount of capital that the country’s largest bank, UBS Group AG, will have to maintain in the coming years.

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Keller-Sutter said that the government wants to give new powers to the financial regulator Finma, and that she “wouldn’t exclude” that that will include the power to fine bankers. 

It would however be impossible even with sweeping reforms to rule out another crisis, she said.

To do that “you’d have to ban banking,” Keller-Sutter said “Business is always risky. I mean, life is risky.”

Keller-Sutter, who took over as finance minister just months before Credit Suisse unravelled, said that the level of extra capital that UBS will have to maintain against its foreign units depends largely on how well the bank prepares for an emergency scenario. 

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“What we have seen with Credit Suisse that subsidiaries in the United States and the United Kingdom were not sufficiently capitalized,” she said. She declined to say how much more capital will be needed, as the amount hasn’t been decided yet.

“This depends on the resolvability of UBS,” Keller-Sutter said. “You have to look at the whole package.”

Earlier this month Finma told UBS to rework parts of its emergency plan, including elements that prepare for it to be wound down in a crisis. The aim is to take account of the bank’s new size and complexity following the acquisition of Credit Suisse last year. 

Switzerland’s central bank and regulator have both spoken out in Favor of increasing the capital backing big banks must hold against their foreign units to 100%, from the current level of 60%. 

The government identified the lower capital measure as a core weakness that contributed to the Credit Suisse crisis as it essentially rendered the sale of subsidiaries abroad impossible in an emergency. 

Banker fines

The government and UBS are at loggerheads over the changes, which could see the bank’s capital requirement increase by as much as $25 billion. UBS Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti has argued against the measure, saying that Switzerland’s regulatory regime is already one of the world’s strictest. 

Keller-Sutter said Thursday that she’d be against any proposal to merge Finma into the central bank as a way to strengthen the credibility of regulation in the country. 

“This has been discussed in the papers, but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. However, she said that it’s possible that the regulator ultimately gets the power to fine bankers as part of the overhaul, though its subject to parliamentary approval.

Keller-Sutter spoke out in favour of giving Finma the power to fine banks in January, but the measure didn’t make it into the set of bank reforms the government presented in April. 

Instead, the Federal Council said that the imposition of “pecuniary administrative sanctions” should only be “examined.” While fines are a standard tool for other regulators in large financial centres, further study is needed to avoid weakening banks’ willingness to cooperate, according to the Swiss report.

Karin Keller-Sutter is seen as one of the most powerful ministers in Switzerland’s seven-member government. She will also assume the rotating office of Swiss president next year. Part of the executive for six years, she has been finance minister since the beginning of 2023.

–With assistance from Jacqueline Simmons.

(Updates with further details throughout)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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