The Investigation Commission for CS Merger is at Work.
Published: Thursday, Jul 13th 2023, 17:40
Aktualisiert am: Freitag, 13. Oktober 2023, 14:12
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The Parliamentary Investigation Commission (PUK) into the CS Notfusion held its first official session. The actual investigation work will not begin until the autumn. Who the PUK hears, which documents it sees and which information it receives and uses will remain secret until the end of its work. At the first session, they were informed about the applicable legal bases, said PUK President and Councilor Isabelle Chassot (MItte/FR) on Thursday evening in Bern in front of the media. The PUK also took note of the preparatory work of the Audit Commissions (GPK). Due to the commission's secrecy and the obligation to remain silent, the PUK cannot provide any information about documents consulted and persons consulted. This applies until it presents its final report. "We are working mainly with confidential and partly classified secret documents," said Chassot. The PUK wants to deliver its final report within twelve to fifteen months, said Chassot and called the schedule "ambitious". The PUK will hold "very often" sessions. The commission's work is divided into four phases, Chassot explained. At present, it is in the first phase, the preparation of organizational and content-related basics. Afterwards, the investigation concept will be developed. "This is essential for such a far-reaching investigation." These two first phases should be completed by the autumn session 2023, as the parliamentary services wrote. Only then should the actual investigation with the hearings begin - with the third phase. The fourth and last phase is the drafting of the final report. The PUK reaffirmed its intention not to limit itself to the events in March 2023, when the forced Notfusion of the CS with the UBS was carried out under the application of Notrecht. It also wants to include the previous years in the investigation and made a first content-related arrangement on Thursday. New legal bases were also discussed by the PUK. Chassot mentioned keywords that had already been mentioned in the GPK and in the Council debates as examples: supervision by the Finma, the handling of risks at the federal level, the investigation of alternatives to the merger, the application of Notrecht and the role of the National Bank. The legal bases for the PUK were also a topic at the first session, as Chassot explained. Because the now fifth PUK in history is the first to work based on the Parliament Act in force since 2003. "We are partly on unknown terrain." The Federal Assembly has set up the PUK to investigate the management of the federal authorities in the context of the Notfusion of the CS with the UBS in the summer session. A PUK is the strongest instrument of parliamentary oversight. It is set up when incidents of great importance have to be clarified. Since the sixties of the last century there have been four PUKs on a federal level. The first was set up after the Mirage scandal and published its report in 1964. A second PUK investigated the Justice and Police Department after the resignation of Justice Minister Elisabeth Kopp (FDP) and uncovered the Fichens scandal in 1989. The third PUK dealt with the intelligence services and the secret resistance organization P26 and presented the results in 1990. The fourth and so far last PUK clarified organizational and leadership problems at the Federal Pension Fund and presented the results of the investigation in October 1995. The Parliamentary Investigation Commission (PUK) into the CS Notfusion held its first official session. The actual investigation work will not begin until the autumn. The PUK will remain silent about who they hear, which documents they see and which information they receive and use until the end of their work. At the first session, they were informed about the applicable legal bases and took note of the preparatory work of the Audit Commissions (GPK). The PUK wants to deliver its final report within twelve to fifteen months and will hold "very often" sessions. The commission's work is divided into four phases. The first two phases should be completed by the autumn session 2023, and the actual investigation with the hearings should begin with the third phase. The fourth and last phase is the drafting of the final report. The PUK reaffirmed its intention to include the previous years in the investigation and discussed new legal bases. Since the sixties of the last century there have been four PUKs on a federal level. The Federal Assembly has set up the PUK to investigate the management of the federal authorities in the context of the Notfusion of the CS with the UBS in the summer session. A PUK is the strongest instrument of parliamentary oversight.
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