B-01-03

The Federal Supreme Court decision 7B_1158/2024 of 18 February 2025 (not intended for publication) does not introduce any major new developments but constitutes an additional landmark in the maze of sealing procedures, in particular in the case of parallel procedures and the transmission of information between authorities. Following a report from FINMA, the FDF opened administrative criminal proceedings in March 2021 for breach of the duty of disclosure committed within a bank. In this context, the administrative authority requested various[...]

Cross-border financial market supervision and effective international cooperation are essential for the stability and integrity of the world's financial markets. To this end, the Federal Council has just launched a consultation on amendments to the Financial Market Supervisory Authority Act (LFINMA), the Audit Supervision Act (ASA) and the Swiss National Bank Act (NBA) to adapt the Swiss legal framework to the current conditions for international cooperation. This commentary focuses exclusively on the proposed amendments to LFINMA. The preliminary draft seeks[...]

FINMA may publish a press release concerning the closure of enforcement proceedings against a named subject, in particular to show the public that it is not inactive in the face of violations of financial market law (2C_682/2023 intended for publication). FINMA closes enforcement proceedings against a bank that has seriously violated money laundering regulations. A few weeks later, the regulator informs the bank of its intention to publish a press release on the proceedings six days later. The draft press[...]

Federal Court decisions 7B_158/2023 and 7B_874/2023 of 6 August 2024 were handed down in the same case, by the2nd Criminal Court, in the context of a sealing procedure. The first, intended for publication, seems convincing to us, unlike the second. For once - and this is important - the criminal proceedings were not opened for money laundering but for breach of the law against unfair competition. In short, the Zurich Public Prosecutor's Office suspects an individual, who is understood to[...]