Latest news with #Finma
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Swiss Banking Watchdog Who Warned Credit Suisse Is Stepping Down
Thomas Hirschi, a crucial behind-the-scenes actor during the Credit Suisse crisis, is leaving the Swiss financial regulator Finma to pursue a new career. Hirschi, who was born in 1975, has led the watchdog's banks division since 2022 and the supervision of asset managers before that. He will depart on Aug. 31, Finma said in a statement on Tuesday.
Bloomberg
01-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Swissquote Ordered by Regulator to Reduce Suspicious Activity
Switzerland's financial watchdog has stepped up pressure on trading platform Swissquote Group Holding SA to do more to curb suspicious activity amid a surge in attempted fraud and hacks. In an annual assessment letter earlier this year, Finma told Switzerland's biggest consumer trading platform to do more to reduce the number of reports it has to submit to the country's money laundering reporting office, according to Swissquote CEO Marc Buerki.
Mint
01-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
IMF Backs Swiss Bank Reform Push Amid UBS Capital Standoff
(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland's planned financial regulation reforms are 'bold' and should make the country more resistant to crises, the International Monetary Fund said, giving tacit support to the government in its standoff over capital with UBS Group AG. The changes would reduce the risks for the state, taxpayers and the economy, the IMF said on Tuesday in an assessment of the country's sector which it conducts every five years. 'Timely implementation of these bold reforms would further strengthen the long-term stability of the Swiss financial center,' the IMF said. The sweeping reforms, which envision capital requirements for UBS rising by as much as $26 billion, as well as bigger powers for the regulator Finma, were announced by the government last month and are set to be debated in parliament in 2027. UBS has called the approach 'extreme' and vowed to push to dilute the bill. The IMF also said that Finma should get 'a full suite of early intervention powers,' which are immediately enforceable, including the ability to rein in banks for deficiencies in governance and risk management. Overall, more supervisory resources are needed, it added. Shortly after the 2023 demise of Credit Suisse, the Washington-based organization had said that the crises warranted a review of Switzerland's framework for systemic lenders. It also said that further instruments and resources are necessary to safeguard financial stability. The emergency takeover of its former rival by UBS has left Switzerland with a bank whose balance sheet is twice the size of the national economy. Aside from regulation, overpriced real estate and loosening mortgage standards have contributed to systemic risks in Switzerland's banking industry staying high, the IMF said. In its economic forecasts, the IMF said that the Swiss economy will — adjusted for large sports events — grow 1.2% in 2026 and 1.3% this year. That's up from 1% in 2024 and in line with the government forecast. The fund forecasts consumer-price growth of 0.1% this year and 0.6% next. That's similar to the central bank's view. Core inflation is expected to stay above zero and within the Swiss National Bank's 0-2% price stability range this year, according to the IMF. The assessment comes less than two weeks after the SNB lowered borrowing costs to zero amid sluggish inflation and a strong franc. It also introduced negative rates for lenders who park too much money with the institution. Taking into account also signs of weakening in the labor market and uncertainty from abroad, the rate cut was appropriate, the IMF said. 'Temporarily negative headline inflation should not warrant further easing,' it added. In May, consumer-price growth was at -0.1% and is expected to have stayed below zero in June. Data are due on Thursday. The IMF also said that while currency interventions 'may be needed' to offset haven flows into the franc, they should be carefully weighed given the already outsized balance sheet of the SNB. The central bank should also refrain from raising distributions. A review of the SNB's monetary and communication framework 'could be useful,' the IMF said, raising the possibility of bringing in external consultants. The central bank should consider giving more information, including providing scenarios that clarify how it would react to different developments. More stories like this are available on
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Credit Suisse was ‘warned' about Greensill three years before firm collapsed
Bosses at Credit Suisse were warned against dealing with the Australian financier Lex Greensill's eponymous company three years before the collapse of his Greensill Capital, which once employed the former UK prime minister David Cameron as an adviser. The 'character judgment' of senior Credit Suisse managers was challenged in anonymous messages they received as early as 2018, which raised concerns over the Swiss bank's dealings with Greensill, according to a report by the Swiss regulator Finma, released under a London court order after a request by the Guardian and other media. The document showed senior managers were warned several times about the risks involved in its business dealings with Greensill and his firm, the 2021 collapse of which contributed to Credit Suisse's shocking demise in March 2023. A message from an anonymous tipster raised 'strong doubts' over the bank's strategy of packaging up Greensill's loans into $10bn (£7.4bn) worth of investable funds for wealthy clients. Greensill appeared at the high court in London this week as a witness in a month-long trial, in which a former Credit Suisse fund is suing the Japanese tech investor SoftBank for $440m over a complex deal it allegedly coordinated with Greensill Capital before its collapse. The Finma report, released as part of the trial, detailed the messages sent to Credit Suisse managers. 'We also have serious doubts about your character judgment in choosing Greensill Capital as a partner in this field, and even more so in giving them the degree of discretion over your clients' money which they appear to have,' the message said. The tipster was also concerned that a 'large proportion' of those loans were to companies in the metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta's troubled steel empire. The message added that the recent collapse of another set of Greensill-backed funds offered by rival asset manager GAM 'should be taken as a strong warning … you need to take care'. One senior manager forwarded the 2018 tipoff to Lex Greensill, adding: 'People in CS are receiving anonymous mails … seriously, you have to rethink your communication strategy!' Greensill Capital, founded in 2011, offered corporate loans, giving companies advances on their invoices in exchange for a fee. But its founder, the Australian melon farmer turned City banker, entered into a series of complex financial agreements and marketed his lender as a tech firm stacked with high-profile advisers including Cameron. Greensill went on to attract a series of large investors including General Atlantic and SoftBank, whose investments were purportedly meant to expand Greensill's activities. 'However, as it later turned out, these funds were primarily used to pay out private investors and to provide Greensill Bank, which was increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny, with additional capital,' the Finma report stated. 'Under the management of Lex Greensill, the company provide[d] customised suits for its employees, elegant business premises and its own fleet of business jets.' Finma's report, which was compiled in December 2022 after nearly two years of investigations, showed Credit Suisse bosses continued to receive warnings over their dealings with Greensill as late as June 2019. Greensill was, at the time, still on the rise and had hoped to launch a £22bn stock market flotation before the Covid pandemic put its clients and investors under severe financial strain. Greensill eventually collapsed in March 2021, after insurers refused to renew contracts that underpinned its loans. It came amid growing concern over the firm's management and its outsized exposure to Gupta's metals empire, which ultimately sparked a string of financial and political scandals. It forced Credit Suisse to close its $10bn Greensill-backed funds, leaving wealthy customers nursing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of losses and further eroding confidence in Credit Suisse. That led the Swiss regulator, Finma, to launch what became a near two-year investigation into its dealings with Greensill. The full resulting Finma report was never previously released. But key findings, released in February 2023, declared that Credit Suisse 'seriously breached its supervisory obligations' and would face additional oversight for senior managers and important business relationships. The 167-year-old bank collapsed a month later, leading to its emergency rescue by rival UBS. UBS is still trying to recoup money for former investors of the Greensill-backed Credit Suisse funds. Commenting on the Finma report, UBS said: 'This is a legacy Credit Suisse matter. The conduct described in the report pre-dates UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse.' A representative for Lex Greensill declined to comment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Credit Suisse was ‘warned' about Greensill three years before firm collapsed
Bosses at Credit Suisse were warned against dealing with the Australian financier Lex Greensill's eponymous company three years before the collapse of his Greensill Capital, which once employed the former UK prime minister David Cameron as an adviser. The 'character judgment' of senior Credit Suisse managers was challenged in anonymous messages they received as early as 2018, which raised concerns over the Swiss bank's dealings with Greensill, according to a report by the Swiss regulator Finma, released under a London court order after a request by the Guardian and other media. The document showed senior managers were warned several times about the risks involved in its business dealings with Greensill and his firm, the 2021 collapse of which contributed to Credit Suisse's shocking demise in March 2023. A message from an anonymous tipster raised 'strong doubts' over the bank's strategy of packaging up Greensill's loans into $10bn (£7.4bn) worth of investable funds for wealthy clients. Greensill appeared at the high court in London this week as a witness in a month-long trial, in which a former Credit Suisse fund is suing the Japanese tech investor SoftBank for $440m over a complex deal it allegedly coordinated with Greensill Capital before its collapse. The Finma report, released as part of the trial, detailed the messages sent to Credit Suisse managers. 'We also have serious doubts about your character judgment in choosing Greensill Capital as a partner in this field, and even more so in giving them the degree of discretion over your clients' money which they appear to have,' the message said. The tipster was also concerned that a 'large proportion' of those loans were to companies in the metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta's troubled steel empire. The message added that the recent collapse of another set of Greensill-backed funds offered by rival asset manager GAM 'should be taken as a strong warning … you need to take care'. One senior manager forwarded the 2018 tipoff to Lex Greensill, adding: 'People in CS are receiving anonymous mails … seriously, you have to rethink your communication strategy!' Greensill Capital, founded in 2011, offered corporate loans, giving companies advances on their invoices in exchange for a fee. But its founder, the Australian melon farmer turned City banker, entered into a series of complex financial agreements and marketed his lender as a tech firm stacked with high-profile advisers including Cameron. Greensill went on to attract a series of large investors including General Atlantic and SoftBank, whose investments were purportedly meant to expand Greensill's activities. 'However, as it later turned out, these funds were primarily used to pay out private investors and to provide Greensill Bank, which was increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny, with additional capital,' the Finma report stated. 'Under the management of Lex Greensill, the company provide[d] customised suits for its employees, elegant business premises and its own fleet of business jets.' Finma's report, which was compiled in December 2022 after nearly two years of investigations, showed Credit Suisse bosses continued to receive warnings over their dealings with Greensill as late as June 2019. Greensill was, at the time, still on the rise and had hoped to launch a £22bn stock market flotation before the Covid pandemic put its clients and investors under severe financial strain. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Greensill eventually collapsed in March 2021, after insurers refused to renew contracts that underpinned its loans. It came amid growing concern over the firm's management and its outsized exposure to Gupta's metals empire, which ultimately sparked a string of financial and political scandals. It forced Credit Suisse to close its $10bn Greensill-backed funds, leaving wealthy customers nursing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of losses and further eroding confidence in Credit Suisse. That led the Swiss regulator, Finma, to launch what became a near two-year investigation into its dealings with Greensill. The full resulting Finma report was never previously released. But key findings, released in February 2023, declared that Credit Suisse 'seriously breached its supervisory obligations' and would face additional oversight for senior managers and important business relationships. The 167-year-old bank collapsed a month later, leading to its emergency rescue by rival UBS. UBS is still trying to recoup money for former investors of the Greensill-backed Credit Suisse funds. Commenting on the Finma report, UBS said: 'This is a legacy Credit Suisse matter. The conduct described in the report pre-dates UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse.' A representative for Lex Greensill declined to comment.
