Author: Konrad K Häuptli

The Case: The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) met with the Swiss Federal Council for their annual regular exchange this week. The Commentary: Marlene Amstad, Chair of FINMA’s Board of Directors, and Stefan Walter, Director of FINMA, joined the meeting. The discussions focussed on current financial market risks as…

The Case: The committee of the lower chamber, the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee (WAK-N), has called on the government to ensure that capital requirements for UBS Group AG do not exceed those in other major financial centres. The Commentary: The committee’s plea followed hearings with UBS executives, the Swiss…

The Case: Switzerland has postponed the start of automatic exchange of crypto-asset tax information under the OECD framework, whose introduction was originally planned for 2026. The Commentary: The delay follows announcements by key partner countries that they would implement the reporting later than expected because of ongoing international discussions on…

The Case: At the occasion of a global investment conference in Hong Kong today, UBS Group AG chairman Colm Kelleher told attendees that Switzerland is facing an “identity crisis” when it comes to its role in global banking. The Commentary: Kelleher warned that the nation that, for a long time,…