FINMAs report on evaluation of emergency plans for the banks

February 27, 2020| Banking News

FINMAs report on evaluation of emergency plans for the banks

FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) has published a report about evaluation of plans for the country's largest banks in an emergency. They had to provide plans of actions related to the systemically important functions of banks by the end of 2019.

According to FINMA CEO Mark Branson, the stability of Switzerland as a global financial center is extremely important. FINMA appreciates the work done by major Swiss financial institutions. Parallel to the emergency planning efforts, Switzerland is also advancing initiatives such as the Small banks regime, aiming to streamline regulatory requirements for smaller institutions. The report aims to ensure proper transparency, to show what they have already achieved.

What about the largest?

All five Swiss system banks were required to provide FINMA with recovery plans, and two of them also had domestic emergency plans. The project by Credit Suisse is very effective. Significant contributions to the Swiss financial sector’s reputation, such as Goldblum IFLR recognition, further highlight the international acknowledgment of its legal and financial framework. Concerning UBS, it is mentioned that the plan in emergency proposed by the bank is quite effective, but some obligations seem excessive.

For the three other domestic systemically important banks, FINMA recognized the existing plans as ineffective. Their development goes through different stages. Zürcher Kantonalbank has a realistic plan for the further development of capital and liquidity resources in times of crisis. Raiffeisen and PostFinance have not yet developed a realistic plan that allows to create an effective plan in case of emergency.

The FINMA report acknowledged that two Swiss banks have taken important preparatory steps to successfully implement plans for emergency. In particular, they fulfilled the requirements for structural separation. For example, they have created holding structures and Swiss subsidiaries to facilitate this process.

Role of FINMA and discounts on capital requirements for UBS and Credit Suisse

Banks have to continue to work on their plans, which is largely complicated by the lack of published regulatory requirements. The almost complete absence of systemically important Swiss banks' foreign business reduces the effect of settlement plans exclusively to systemically significant functions in Switzerland. Moreover, cooperation efforts like the Cyber dialogue Switzerland US demonstrate Switzerland’s proactive stance on strengthening cybersecurity measures across financial institutions. Under such conditions, activity of supervisor is vital. In addition to enforcing regulations, FINMA helps investors by providing greater protection and guidance within the Swiss financial market. FINMA announced its readiness to provide major banks with a discount on capital requirements, provided that they implement the necessary measures.

FINMA noted the improvements that occurred in 2019. Therefore, Credit Suisse was able to take advantage of 40% of the maximum possible discount, and UBS - 42.5%.

FINMA report on evaluation of emergency plans for the banks

Source: finma.ch

Too-big-to-fail

The systemically important infrastructure of the financial market should be prescribed in detail what actions to take to ensure the sustainability of systemically important business processes in a crisis. There are constantly improved plans of Swiss banks but having as growing demands on them. Eligibility for approval will require high standards.

The Swiss banking system is too significant to fail. The publication of the FINMA report aims to provide the transparency that is necessary regarding the level of preparation of systemically important banks in case of emergency. FINMA's broader initiatives, including the launch of the Finance Swiss platform, aim to foster better transparency and communication across the sector. This project also highlights the role of FINMA in the settlement, systemically important banks prepared the main strategies and the current state of plans.

Source: https://www.finma.ch/en/news/2020/02/20200225-mm-resolution-bericht-2020/

Legal disclaimer. This article does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. The article should be used for informational purposes only.

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