Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)

The increasing internationalisation of the financial services industry brings with it growing requirements in terms of cooperation and the flow of information between supervisory authorities. In order to facilitate cooperation, the SFBC concludes agreements with foreign supervisory authorities. These are focused on supervisory authorities in strategically significant countries with whom there is an extensive exchange of information due to the large number of cross-border affiliated offices of supervised institutions. In line with modern practice, the SFBC increasingly concludes Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) rather than exchanging letters. The MoUs specify cooperation and procedures within the statutory framework (Art. 23 sexies und Art. 23 septies BA, Art. 38 SESTA and Art. 142 CISA).

The SFBC is also legally authorised to cooperate with a foreign supervisory authority even in the absence of a specific agreement between the two. If the cooperation involves the exchange of sensitive data, the SFBC generally requests an ad hoc declaration from the requesting supervisory authority, under the terms of which

• the information may be used exclusively for the direct monitoring of the supervised institutions,
• the supervisory authority is bound by official or professional secrecy,
• the information may not be published or forwarded to other authorities or bodies, including other supervisory or prosecuting authorities, without the prior approval of the SFBC.

At present, the SFBC has formalised its cooperation with the following foreign supervisory authorities:

Australia	ASIC	Australian Securities & Investments Commission
Belgium	CBFA	Commission bancaire, financière et des assurances
China	CBRC	China Banking Regulatory Commission
	CSRC	China Securities Regulatory Commission
Denmark	Finanstilsynet	Autorité de surveillance danoise
Dubai	DFSA	Dubai Financial Services Authority
France	AMF (agreement with the former COB)	Autorité des marchés financiers (Commission des Opérations de Bourse)
	CB	Commission Bancaire
Germany	BaFin (agreement with the former BAWe)	Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Bundesaufsichtsamt für den Wertpapierhandel)
Hong Kong	HKMA	Hong Kong Monetary Authority
	SFC	Securities and Futures Commission
Italy	CONSOB	Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa
	BI	Banca d'Italia
Mexico	CNBV	Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores
Netherlands	NAFM (agreement with the former STE)	Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Toezicht Effectenverkeer)
	DNB	De Nederlandsche Bank N.V.
Portugal	CMVM	Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários
Singapore	MAS	Monetary Authority of Singapore
Sweden	Finansinspektionen	Swedish financial supervisory authority
Spain	CNMV	Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores
UK	FSA (general agreement)	Financial Services Authority
	FSA (surveillance virt-x)	Financial Services Authority
	FSA (surveillance x-clear)	Financial Services Authority
USA	CFTC	U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission
	SEC	Securities and Exchange Commission
	CTDOB	State of Connecticut Department of Banking
	NYSBD	State of New York Banking Department
	FED	Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
	OCC	Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
	FDIC	Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
	OTS	U.S. Office of the Thrift Supervision