Supervision

Under the Financial Market Supervisory Act (Finanzmarktaufsichtsgesetz FINMAG), the Federal Office of Private Insurance (Bundesamt für Privatversicherungen BPV), the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (Eidgenössische Bankenkommission EBK) and the Federal Money Laundering Control Authority (Kontrollstelle für die Bekämpfung der Geldwäscherei Kst GwG) were merged to form the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA) with effect from 1 January,  2009. As an independent supervisory authority, FINMA will protect financial market clients, namely creditors, investors and insured persons, thus strengthening public trust in Switzerland as a functioning, reliable and competitive financial centre.

All banks operating in Switzerland require a licence. The supervisory standards applied in Switzerland not only govern the capital resources and adequacy of the banks but also include the whole range of prudential rules and codes of conduct. As an additional safety cushion, Swiss law specifies higher capital requirements than does the Basel Capital Accord.