D-01-22

Can a person facing criminal proceedings obtain from FINMA, under the FADP, the documents relating to an enforcement procedure targeting a bank? No, where the request is in fact intended to prepare their criminal defence and to intervene in the enforcement proceedings (Federal Administrative Court, A-1251/2024, A-1692/2024 of 16 September 2026). An Australian lawyer, who manages three offshore companies, holds a bank account with a Swiss bank. On 28 October 2020, the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against[...]

The Federal Court upholds the cancellation and reduction of variable compensation awarded—but not yet paid—to Credit Suisse executives. Contrary to the lower court’s ruling, it held that Art. 10a of the Banking Act (LB) constitutes a sufficient legal basis to permanently cancel or reduce such compensation, and is not limited to allowing a deferral of payment for the duration of government support (Decision 2C_322/2025, 2C_323/2025 of September 16, 2026). A summary diagram is available. On March 19, 2023, the acquisition[...]

On August 12, 2026, the Federal Council opened a public comment period on a preliminary draft of the Banking Act (PDA-BA) in the wake of the Credit Suisse collapse (see CDBF bulletin of August 12, 2026). This commentary focuses on the measures related to compensation. For the first time, the principles governing compensation systems could be enshrined in law (Art. 5c AP-LB). Systemically important banks (SIBs)—which in Switzerland include: UBS, the Zurich Cantonal Bank, Raiffeisen, and PostFinance—would be subject to[...]

Having already had its case dismissed in 2015, the FTA is attempting to secure a change in practice. Can the contact information of the requesting authority and its staff be systematically kept confidential from the taxpayer? This is the legal question of principle submitted to the Federal Supreme Court, to which the Court responded in the negative (2C_157/2024). In the context of a tax administrative assistance proceeding initiated by Germany, the taxpayer in question objects to the disclosure of information[...]