- FINMA should be subject to the principle of public administration and no longer be exempt.
- Other federal supervisory authorities are already subject to the principle of public disclosure, FINMA occupies a special position.
- Existing BGÖ exemptions (business and personal data) would continue to guarantee the protection of sensitive information.
- Credit Suisse/UBS emergency merger shows the need for increased transparency on the part of FINMA.
Submitted text
Article 2 paragraph 2 of the Federal Act on the Principle of Publicity in the Administration (BGÖ, SR 152.3) is to be reworded as follows:
The law does not apply to the Swiss National Bank.
Justification
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is the only supervisory authority belonging to the Federal Administration exempt from the generally applicable transparency rules. Other federal supervisory authorities such as the Swiss Federal Audit Office, the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate and the Federal Audit Oversight Authority are subject to the principle of publicity. Even the independent supervisory authority for the intelligence service (AB-ND), which supervises the Federal Intelligence Service and the Armed Forces Intelligence Service, is subject to this principle.
FINMA’s special position has been criticized for years. Thomas Sägesser, former Head of the Legal Service of the Federal Chancellery, calls this regulation “problematic” in his commentary on the Public Disclosure Act. The exceptions enshrined in the Freedom of Information Act would be sufficient to protect the confidentiality of areas of FINMA’s activities that are subject to business and professional secrecy.
In fact, sensitive information is already protected in the BGÖ. Article 7 BGÖ, for example, provides for exceptions to protect trade and business secrets. Data protection also remains guaranteed; Article 9 of the FADP protects personal data.
The events surrounding the emergency merger of Credit Suisse and UBS clearly show how important it is to give FINMA’s activities greater visibility.