B-04-29 FINMA Guidance 05/2021

A possible contractual imbalance in a credit relationship between a bank and its customers does not engage the bank's liability, provided that the bank has validly fulfilled its duty to provide information. These are the main findings of judgment 4A_567/2024 of 27 May 2025. In 2013, clients entered into a mortgage loan agreement with a bank for approximately CHF 1.5 million. The interest rate was variable and corresponded to the three-month LIBOR (later SARON) plus a margin. The agreement provided[...]

Statements obtained under an obligation to cooperate with FINMA are inadmissible in administrative criminal proceedings brought against an individual for engaging in financial intermediary activities without authorization. This conclusion, reached by the Federal Supreme Court in its judgment 7B_45/2022 of July 21, 2025 (not intended for publication), results in the case being referred back to the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court, which will have to re-examine the case without this evidence. The case dates back to 2014, when[...]

In its decision of 29 January 2025, published on 1 July 2025, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (PFPDT) issued a warning to a Swiss bank for repeated violations of the provisions of the Data Protection Act (DPA) relating to the right of access. This decision sets clear standards: strict compliance with the 30-day deadline for responding to the data subject and the obligation to provide personal data ‘as such’. This decision follows two complaints filed by customers who[...]

For once, the publication of the case law of the Banking Supervisory Commission (hereinafter: the Commission) for the second half of 2024 contains a little more substance than usual. On procedural aspects, it is mainly issues related to the burden and the degree of proof required that seem to have occupied the authority. In the first case, the Commission emphasizes that it is all the more incumbent on the bank to prove that it has fulfilled its due diligence obligations[...]