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2005

    November
    Regulation of the financial centre
    From theory to practice
    Michel Y. Dérobert, SPBA (PDF - 28 Ko)
     
    For some years, the banking sector has been complaining about over-regulation which threatens to cripple the financial world. In Switzerland, the private bankers were one of the first groups to speak out publicly and were quickly joined by others, namely the investment banks, cantonal banks foreign banks and even the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA). A study carried out by the University of Zurich  in 2004 has, for the first time, quantified the costs of this problem and revealed their spectacular growth in five years.
     
    So, it is in a rather alarmist context that one piece of good news should be announced: the Swiss authorities have come to realize that the problem is a very real one, not a collective hallucination experienced by the financial centre and its lobbyists, trying to draw attention to themselves. Just recently, the Federal Finance Administration, the Swiss Federal Banking Commission and the Swiss Federal Office of Private Insurance produced a joint publication which has gone unnoticed by most of the media. It is entitled "Guidelines for Financial Market Regulation" with the clear subtitle of "The requirement for a reasonable cost-conscious and effective regulation of the financial market".
     
    October
    From regulation to over-regulation and back
    How to break the vicious circle
    Michel Y. Dérobert, SPBA (PDF - 73 Ko)
     
    As I collected papers on the subject of regulation in order to prepare this article, I was struck by the number of regulatory projects that have become reality over the past twelve months in Switzerland. Mentioning this fact to a well-known lawyer, he answered : "That's life! Nothing can be done about it. Although they keep moaning, banks get used to it, don't they?".
     
    Do banks really get used to endless new regulations? Clearly this is not only a burden for small banks but also for big ones. Perhaps  regulation is a bit like a chronic illness : one lives with it, but it ruins one's quality life! Taking Swiss private banking as an example, this paper will explore how to break free from the vicious circle of ever-growing regulation.
     
    September
    In the fight against money laundering the Swiss legislator must keep his prerogatives!
    Edouard Cuendet, SPBA (PDF - 28 Ko) - Article published in "Employeur Suisse"

    In January 2005 the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) opened a consultation procedure on draft bill on the implementation of the FATF's revised recommendations. In substance, insider trading and share price manipulation are supposed to be included in the list of predicate offences for money laundering. Furthermore, according to this text, several professions and non-financial activities should be subject to the anti-money laundering rules (real estate agents, precious metal and precious stone traders, lawyers, notaries, trust companies and tax advisers and intermediary service providers who set up and administer companies).
     
    The Swiss private bankers are the first to recognize the overwhelming importance of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.  They note that the measures Switzerland has taken are already among the toughest in the world. After studying the FDF's proposals, they arrived at the conclusion that these needed to be seriously re-worked.
     
    The Swiss banks and the European Union
    Négociations bilatérales: le pragmatisme a fait ses preuves
    Michel Y. Dérobert, SBPA (PDF - 537 Ko)
    (document in French only - this article was published in "L'Agefi" on September 20, 2005)

    Tandis que l'Union européenne traverse une phase de doute, la prudence helvétique démontre ses vertus. A condition de ne pas céder le pas à la peur. 
     
    April
    Implementation of the revised FATF recommendations on money laundering
    Does Switzerland have to be the first to legislate?
    SPBA (PDF - 28 Ko)

    The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization that brings together more than 30 countries, including Switzerland. Its objective is to devise and implement strategies in the bid to counter money laundering and terrorist financing. To this end it has produced a series of non-restrictive recommendations that governments are, nevertheless, expected to include in their national legislation. FATF's 40 Recommendations on Money Laundering established in the 1990s were revised and extended in 2003.
    Taking this development into consideration, the Federal Department of Finance published a draft bill at the beginning of this year proposing the revision of a whole series of federal laws.
     
     
    January
    January 13, 2005
    Annual Press Point (documents in German)