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FINMA: Publication of Annual Report 2022

April 4, 2023 | Industry news

FINMA: Publication of Annual Report 2022

On the 27th of March, Switzerland's independent financial markets regulator published the Annual Report 2022. The exceptional geopolitical circumstances and economic fluctuations influenced the financial markets in 2022. FINMA applied an approach based on risk assessment while conducting research.

The Annual Report 2022 also informs about annual financial statements. On its website, FINMA displays data on enforcement cases in a database and statistics in an Excel document.

Supervision of the most significant pressure points

FINMA focused on the most significant risk-causing factors by conducting research based on a risk assessment approach. Besides, the Swiss financial market supervisory authority checked the number of banks and whether they could comply with the sanctions provisions and strengthened its supervision of some banks.

Cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence

In 2022 the market carried on demonstrating great interest in financial services and assets connected with crypto. FinTech companies and the growing number of banks under FINMA's supervision enlarged the scope of their services in this area. Due to the survey of supervised institutions, FINMA found out that artificial intelligence (AI) is also becoming more critical in the financial markets' activities. As a result, FINMA set up a new unit to correctly supervise these changes in financial institutions.

In 2022 there were some fluctuations in cryptocurrency values and eye-catching fails of several foreign FinTech companies. FINMA considered this situation to confirm its long-standing practice of licensing and supervising products and services based on a technology-neutral, functional approach. The purpose is to advance innovations and ensure proper protection for customers and the financial markets.

Portfolio managers and trustees: 1,699 applications submitted

Another task for FINMA in 2022 was the end of the three-year transitional period for applying as a portfolio manager or trustee. Of the more than 2,500 portfolio managers and trustees who intended to obtain authorization in 2020, 1,699 applicants, in the long run, submit an application for authorization to FINMA.

Enforcement: more investigations and proceedings

FINMA completed over 850 investigations and 39 proceedings against individuals and companies in 2022. This is 10% higher compared to the previous year.



Annual financial statements: new tasks and new costs

FINMA's operating costs rose due to new statutory duties and more complicated tasks. The expenses were stable for a long time, but in 2020 and 2021, they increased as a consequence of the expenditure associated with the entry into force of FinIA and FinSA. Therefore, this tendency kept going in 2022. The overall expenses were covered by income from supervisory fees and levies. Besides, the number of full-time positions at the authority also increased: 539 in 2022 compared to 519 in 2021.

Annual media conference

Switzerland's independent financial markets regulator put off its annual media conference because of the emphasis on the activity regarding the merger of UBS and CS. Besides, FINMA's CEO Urban Angehrn points out that CS's banking business must go on to operate smoothly and without irregularities, as it happens now.

FINMA will declare a new date for the media conference soon.


The source: https://www.finma.ch/en/news/2023/03/20230328-mm-geschaeftsbericht-2022/


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