| At the bilateral level, the SFBC maintains regular contact with bank and stock exchange supervisory bodies in financial centres abroad. Depending on the national system, this may involve one or more authorities. The depth of these contacts is a function of the level of the activity of the Swiss intermediaries in the country concerned, and vice versa. In order to manage the flow of information between the competent authorities, it is sometimes necessary to formalise the framework and terms of collaboration through written agreements.
In the banking area, the main focus of collaboration between the authorities is the consolidated supervision of internationally active financial groups. The SFBC, in its capacity as the supervisory authority in the country of origin, becomes active if Swiss banks that are active abroad are involved, particularly the two large groups. Moreover, it also becomes involved with subsidiaries and branches of foreign banks in Switzerland.
The purpose of collaboration between supervisory authorities in the supervision of stock exchange and financial markets is primarily to exchange information about potential offences (insider trading, market manipulation, breaches of reporting requirements, illegal solicitation of investors, etc.) that are committed from within Switzerland on a foreign exchange and vice versa. The exchange of information in connection with these activities has given rise to numerous objections on the part of the clients concerned and has resulted in a large number of judgements by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. |
