FINMA Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) supervises the Swiss financial market. It opened in 2009, built from three bodies that were merged into it: the Federal Banking Commission (EBK), the Federal Office of Private Insurance (BPV) and the Anti-Money Laundering Control Authority.

FINMA is independent and sits outside the political process. Its job is to protect creditors, investors and policyholders, and to keep the markets working.

Who FINMA supervises

Banks and other financial institutions. Insurance companies. Securities dealers and exchanges. Collective investment schemes and the asset managers who run them. Fund management companies. Insurance distributors and intermediaries.

Licensing

Nothing can offer financial services in Switzerland without FINMA's authorisation first — bank, insurer or securities dealer alike. Supervision then continues for as long as the licence does, and it looks at three things: whether the firm holds enough capital, whether it manages its risks, and whether it follows the law.

When a firm falls short, FINMA can step in at once, order it corrected, and impose sanctions. Where the law gives it discretion, FINMA can also write binding rules of its own.

Working with regulators abroad

Switzerland is a large financial centre, so much of FINMA's work crosses borders. It exchanges information with authorities in other countries, keeps its practice consistent with theirs, and co-operates on enforcement that runs through more than one jurisdiction.

FINMA represents Switzerland in international organisations and regulatory bodies, where the positions it argues for are the rights of investors, policyholders and creditors; a stable and transparent global financial system; and requirements that hold across jurisdictions rather than stopping at a border. It also supports the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on financial regulation in talks between states.

Failing institutions

FINMA handles crises as well as licences. If a bank or an insurer is heading for insolvency, FINMA coordinates the response and takes it through an orderly resolution.