Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority

{{Short description|Government watchdog}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox government agency | agency_name = Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority | native_name = {{in lang|de}} Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht<br>{{in lang|fr}} Autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés financiers<br>{{in lang|it}} Autorità federale di vigilanza sui mercati finanziari<br>{{in lang|rm}} Autoritad federala per la surveglianza dals martgads da finanzas | logo = Logo of Finma (2025).svg | logo_width = 250px | logo_caption = | seal = | seal_width = | seal_caption = | formed = 2007 | preceding1 = | dissolved = | superseding = Swiss Federal Banking Commission (EBK-CFB) | jurisdiction = Switzerland | headquarters = Bern, Switzerland | employees = 634 (2024)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/news/2025/04/20250408-mm-jmk-25/ | title=FINMA’s annual media conference | access-date=21 February 2026 |publisher=FINMA |date=8 April 2025}}</ref> | budget = | minister1_name = Karin Keller-Sutter | minister1_pfo = Federal Councillor | parent_agency = Federal Department of Finance | chief1_name = {{Ill|Stefan Walter|de|Stefan Walter (Finanzfachmann)}} | chief1_position = CEO | chief2_name = {{Ill|Marlene Amstad|de}} | chief2_position = Chair | child1_agency = | keydocument1 = | keydocument2 = | website = {{URL|https://www.finma.ch}} | footnotes = }}

The '''Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority''' ('''FINMA'''){{Efn|{{langx|de|eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht}}, {{langx|fr|Autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés financiers}}, {{langx|it|Autorità federale di vigilanza sui mercati finanziari}}}} is the Swiss government body responsible for financial regulation. This includes the supervision of banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges and securities dealers, as well as other financial intermediaries in Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/13929.pdf |title=FINMA at a glance |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=admin.ch}}</ref>

thumb|Entrance to the FINMA building.

FINMA was established in 2007 and succeeded the '''Federal Banking Commission''',{{Efn|{{langx|de|eidgenössische Bankenkommission}}; {{langx|fr|Commission Fédérale des Banques}}}} thus '''EBK-CFB''', established in 1934.<ref name="imf" /> It is an independent institution with its own legal personality based in Bern.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/956_1/a4.html|title=SR 956.1 Bundesgesetz vom 22. Juni 2007 über die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht (Finanzmarktaufsichtsgesetz, FINMAG)|author=Bundeskanzlei - P}}</ref> It is institutionally, functionally and financially independent from the central federal administration and the Federal Department of Finance and reports directly to the Swiss parliament.<ref name="imf" />

==History== ===Federal Banking Commission===

Banking supervision was introduced in Switzerland by the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks of 1934, following unsuccessful attempts that had started in 1914 and triggered by the severe banking crisis of 1931. The 1934 legislation established the Federal Banking Commission (EBK-CFB) as a national prudential supervisor. For decades, however, the EBK-CFB staff was kept in the single digits on a very small budget. It was still only 10 in 1975, and grew to 35 in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Formalization of Banking Supervision |pages=87–98 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |author1=Eiji Hotori |author2=Mikael Wendschlag |author3=Thibaud Giddey |year=2022 |doi=10.1007/978-981-16-6783-1 |isbn=978-981-16-6782-4 |s2cid=245193352 |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-6783-1}}</ref>

===Creation of FINMA=== FINMA was founded on the 22 June 2007 with the passing of the Federal Act on the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMASA).<ref name="imf">{{Cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2014/cr14266.pdf |title=Switzerland: Detailed assessment of implementation — IOSCO objectives and principles of securities regulation |date=2014-08-20 |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=IMF}}</ref> This merged the EBK-CFB with the Federal Office of Private Insurance (FOPI) and the Anti Money Laundering Control Authority into one agency responsible for all financial regulation in Switzerland.<ref name="imf" />

Switzerland is home to UBS, one of the world's major banks, and given its significance to the Swiss economy, FINMA has a dedicated regulatory team overseeing its operations.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2011-09-15|title=UK and Swiss regulators under scrutiny|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/dad5650c-dfa3-11e0-845a-00144feabdc0}}</ref>

All Swiss banks must receive a banking license from FINMA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Authorisation requirements for banks |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/authorisation/banks-and-securities-firms/getting-licensed/banks/ |website=Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA. Retrieved 4 March 2022.}}</ref> Since 2019, certain fintech companies can also apply for a "FinTech banking license".<ref>{{Cite web |title=FinTech licence |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/authorisation/fintech/fintech-bewilligung/ |website=Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA. Retrieved 4 March 2022.}}</ref> As of May 2025, four companies hold fintech banking licenses: Bivial AG, Relio AG, SR Saphirstein AG and Yapeal AG.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of persons licensed by FINMA pursuant to Article 1b BA (FinTech licence) |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/~/media/finma/dokumente/bewilligungstraeger/pdf/fintech.pdf |website=Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA. Retrieved 13 May 2025.}}</ref>

===UBS and US tax affair=== {{See also|UBS tax evasion controversies}} On 19 February 2009, the US government filed suit against UBS to reveal the names of all 52,000 U.S. customers, alleging that the bank and these customers conspired to defraud the US tax authority IRS of legitimately owed tax revenue.<ref name="dw">{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4045651,00.html|title=UBS Warns US Tax Fraud Battle Could Be Its Ruin|work=DW.COM}}</ref> However revealing customer names was contrary to Swiss law and put UBS in a difficult position. Eventually UBS, with the support of FINMA, agreed to provide the names of 250 to 300 clients through FINMA and pay U.S. $780 million fines to settle the matter.<ref name="dw" /> FINMA used sections 25 and 26 of the Banking Act, provided for situations in which a bank is threatened with bankruptcy, to allow this to happen.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parlament.ch/centers/documents/en/bericht-gpk-ns-ubs-kundendaten-usa-2010-05-30-res-e.pdf |title=The Swiss authorities under the pressure of the financial crisis and the disclosure of UBS customer data to the USA |date=2010-05-31 |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=Federal Assembly}}</ref> Subsequently, in February 2009, the Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland ordered FINMA to stop the transmission to the U.S. tax authorities.<ref name="dw" />

==Responsibilities and functions== As a state regulatory body, the FINMA is endowed with supreme authority over banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges, securities dealers and collective investment schemes.<ref name="finma_banks">{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/supervision/banks-and-securities-firms/ |title=Banking supervision |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> It is responsible for combating money laundering and, if necessary, conducts financial restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/enforcement/enforcement-tools/withdrawal-of-authorisation-liquidation-and-bankruptcy/ |title=Withdrawal of authorisation, liquidation and bankruptcy |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> In addition, it has supervisory powers with respect to the disclosure of participations and is the complaints body for decisions of the Takeover Board in the area of public takeover bids for listed companies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/enforcement/market-supervision/ |title=Market supervision |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref>

The FINMA grants operating licences for companies and organisations subject to its supervision, monitors the supervised institutions with respect to their compliance with the requisite laws, ordinances, directives and regulations, as well as with the conditions for the granting of licences that must be complied with at all times.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/authorisation/types-of-licensing/ |title=Types of authorisation |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> If necessary and to the extent permissible by law, the FINMA imposes sanctions, provides administrative assistance and regulates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/enforcement/licence-holders/measures/ |title=Measures against licence holders, their owners, ultimate management and staff |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> FINMA is also responsible for ensuring that self-regulation is acknowledged appropriately.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/supervision/self-regulatory-organisations-sros/ |title=Supervision of self-regulatory organisations |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> The FINMA provides supervision when there is a risk to creditors, investors and policy holders and can penalise individuals or authority, its decision, however, can be challenged in a court.<ref name="finma_banks" /> It can also ensure compliance, issue warnings, cancel licenses and liquidate companies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/enforcement/all-about-enforcement/ |title=Enforcing supervisory law |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> In 2025, FINMA conducted 113 audits of banks, 43 of insurers and 20 in the field of asset management, <ref name="s413">{{cite web | title=La Finma veut pouvoir frapper plus vite et plus fort | website=rts.ch | date=2026-04-21 | url=https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2026/article/la-finma-veut-pouvoir-frapper-plus-vite-et-plus-fort-29218291.html | language=fr | access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref>

===Supervision===

FINMA takes a risk-based approach to its supervision of financial institutions, working to identify threats that could affect individual institutions or the entire financial system.<ref name="finma_supervision">{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/supervision/our-approach-to-supervision/ |title=Supervision - FINMA's core task |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref> FINMA is particularly vigilant about money laundering and the financing of terrorism and closely monitors the Swiss financial markets for AML/CFT compliance.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/documentation/dossier/dossier-geldwaeschereibekaempfung/geldwaeschereiaufsicht-2022/ |title=Money laundering supervision (2022) |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref>

==Organisational structure== The FINMA is made up of a board of directors, an executive board and an extended executive board.<ref name="finma_org">{{Cite web |url=https://www.finma.ch/en/finma/organisation/ |title=How FINMA is organised |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=FINMA}}</ref>

The Board of Directors is a strategic management body and has seven to nine independent expert members appointed via parliament. It decides on matters of substantial importance, issues ordinances and circulars, and is responsible for FINMA’s budget. It also ensures internal controls by means of an internal audit unit and oversees the Executive Board. The Board of Directors appoints the CEO and elects the members of the Executive Board based on the CEO's proposals.<ref name="finma_bod">{{Cite web|url=https://www.finma.ch/en/finma/organisation/board-of-directors/|title=FINMA's strategic leadership|website=Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA|access-date=2024-09-19}}</ref>

The Executive Board is FINMA's operational management body and is responsible for ensuring that banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges, securities dealers and other financial intermediaries are supervised in accordance with the law and respective strategy. The Executive Board decides on matters such as the granting of licences, key management, organisational and personnel issues, directives and supervisory matters of cross-divisional significance. The Executive Board prepares the necessary files and materials for decisions on items of business that fall under the remit of the Board of Directors and is responsible for implementing the resolutions of the Board of Directors and its committees.<ref name="finma_eb">{{Cite web|url=https://www.finma.ch/en/finma/organisation/executive-board/|title=Operational management|website=Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA|access-date=2024-09-19}}</ref>

Anne Héritier Lachat was Chairwoman of the Board of Directors from 2011<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home/dokumentation/nsb-news_list.msg-id-36935.html|title=FINMA: Federal Council elects Anne Héritier Lachat as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors|publisher=Federal Department of Finance FDF }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/anne_heritier_lachat_wird_neue_finma-chefin_1.8826951.html |title=Bundesrat wählt Anne Héritier Lachat zur neuen Verwaltungsratspräsidentin der Aufsichtsbehörde: Eine Professorin an der Spitze der Firma |author=Ermes Gallarotti |date=23 December 2010 |newspaper=Neue Zürcher Zeitung }}</ref> until 1 January 2016<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tdg.ch/economie/anne-heritier-lachat-quitter-monde-finance/story/19716671 |title=FINMA: Anne Héritier Lachat va quitter le monde de la finance |date=30 November 2015 |newspaper=Tribune de Genève }}</ref> when Thomas Bauer, former Ernst & Young partner became Chairman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.letemps.ch/economie/2015/07/01/thomas-bauer-remplace-anne-heritier-lachat-presidence-finma|title=Thomas Bauer remplace Anne Héritier Lachat à la présidence de la Finma}}</ref> Since 2021, {{Ill|Marlene Amstad|de}} serves as the chair.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-78432.html |title=Federal Council appoints Marlene Amstad as future FINMA Chair |date=13 March 2020 |website=Federal Council}}</ref>

In April 2025, FINMA has introduced a chief risk officer role to coordinate risk management across the authority.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Swiss market regulator FINMA restructures, deputy CEO to step down |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/swiss-market-regulator-finma-restructures-deputy-ceo-step-down-2025-04-01 |date=2025-04-01 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Reuters}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Notelist}} == References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commonscatinline}} * {{Official website|https://www.finma.ch}}

Category:Financial services companies established in 2007 Finance Category:Financial regulatory authorities of Switzerland Category:Money laundering in Switzerland