FINMA President has sympathy for bonus return regulation
Published: Saturday, Dec 30th 2023, 10:20
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The Chairwoman of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has expressed her sympathy for a bonus return regulation for bankers. "This issue is on the table and must now be discussed", Marlene Amstad told "Schweiz am Wochenende".
"But we can't give ourselves this authority, it has to be decided by the legislator," said the President of the Financial Market Authority (FINMA), who has been in office since 2021 and holds a doctorate in economics, in the interview on Saturday.
"In the business of money, money does play a role," said the 55-year-old from Bern. "That's why we need fines, and that's why we need the right incentives in terms of remuneration."
Following the collapse of the major bank Credit Suisse (CS) and its rescue thanks to the takeover by competitor UBS, politicians and industry representatives are discussing tougher instruments for FINMA. The aim is to prevent banking crises in the future.
For example, FINMA is calling for the authority to issue fines or a senior management regime in which a bank must set out in writing who is responsible for which area. Finma would also like to be able to intervene in the banks' remuneration models.
In a report following the crisis, FINMA sharply criticized CS's bonus policy. CS had only appeared to be geared towards the performance of its managers. Even in bad years, the bank managers had received high remuneration. The "non-financial targets", which concern the behavior of the managers, did not play a major role in the bonus calculation, provided the managers earned money for the bank, it said.
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