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Swiss Financial Center - Players
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Swiss Bankers Association
The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) was founded in 1912 in Basel as a trade association and today has nearly 360 institutional members and approximately 16,340 individual members. The Association’s Office employs a staff of about 60. 11 commissions and associated working groups deal with key issues affecting the industry. Serving on these commissions are some 440 representatives of various banking groups as well as specialists from the SBA.
 www.swissbanking.org
Swiss Banking Ombudsman
Any customer who has a dispute with his/her bank but does not want to go to court may contact the Swiss Banking Ombudsman. The ombudsman is a neutral and independent office for resolving customer disputes. Although it has no powers of arbitration, it mediates between the parties to the dispute. Thus, it can recommend and advise, but not prescribe, a particular solution. Nevertheless, the ombudsman successfully mediates in many cases.
www.bankingombudsman.ch
SIX Group
SIX Group was formed at the start of 2008 by the merger of SWX Group, SIS Group and Telekurs Group. As an internationally active infrastructure company, it is a cornerstone of the Swiss financial sector. As one of Europe’s leading securities exchange and financial market infrastructure operators, SIX Group. offers first-rate services that address all aspects of Swiss and crossborder securities trading as well as the admission of securities to trading. The company’s other business fields focus on rendering cost-effective and efficient services in the areas of clearing, settlement, securities safekeeping and administration, as well as supplying international financial information for investment advisors, portfolio managers, financial analysts and administrators of securities transactions. In addition, its services in the area of payment transactions cover the acceptance and processing of payments made with credit, debit and customer cards, as well as the handling of interbank transfers and e-invoices.
www.six-group.com
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
The FINMA is responsible for the supervision of banks through statutory auditors. It grants new banks authorization to begin conducting business. In the event of a violation of law or other abuses, the FINMA can order appropriate corrective measures. If the case is serious enough, it can withdraw the bank's operating permit.
www.finma.ch
Swiss National Bank
The SNB is the central bank of the Swiss Confederation, and it runs the country's monetary policy independently. As lender of last resort, it bears some responsibility for ensuring that the Swiss economy has sufficient liquidity. However, unlike the Bank of England, for instance, it has no regulatory powers - banking supervision is the purview of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
www.snb.ch
Financial intermediaries without bank status
In addition to the banks and their various bodies, the Swiss financial sector also plays host to financial intermediaries without bank status. These intermediaries, which are regulated by a special federal authority, include the management companies of Swiss investment funds (under the Investment Fund Act), life insurance companies (under the Insurance Supervision Act) and securities traders (under the Stock Exchange Act). A number of other financial intermediaries are only governed by the Money Laundering Act.
These include anyone who looks after other people's assets or helps to invest or transfer them, such as asset managers, brokers, bureaux de changes, lawyers, credit card companies etc.
Independent asset managers in particular form a large and important group. They are brought together in the Swiss Association of Asset Managers (SAAM) VSV. The total assets under management by SAAM members is estimated at CHF 100bn, which equates to 3% of the overall market. Independent asset managers maintain close relations with one or more banks, the banks being responsible for customers' accounts and custody accounts.
www.vsv-asg.ch |
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