Swiss Financial Watchdog Heightens Surveillance
By SwissInfo
The Swiss financial market regulator, Finma, has dramatically stepped up its surveillance of financial institutions.
In the context of an annual meeting with the government on Friday, Finma boss Anne Héritier Lachat told the government her organisation had carried out direct assessments of some 40 financial institutions over the past year.
Finma was previously in the habit of making just “two to three” such assessments a year, government spokesman André Simonazzi told a media conference.
Lachat also reportedly told the government that protection for private investors remained insufficient and her organisation was working on strategies for increased protection.
Simonazzi said the government and Lachat had also held “general discussions” about the debt crisis affecting eurozone countries and the outcome of Thursday night’s summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.
Sophie Douez, swissinfo.ch
