The latest compliance news: regulatory developments, punishments, guidance, permissions, new product and service offerings.

Switzerland is speeding up steps to overhaul banking regulations a year after UBS acquired stricken rival Credit Suisse, Bloomberg reported yesterday. 

The report noted that the Alpine state’s government is due to unveil proposals for legislation in the coming days that are likely to touch on all of the main pillars of bank oversight, from capital and liquidity rules to controls on governance. It said UBS – now Switzerland’s remaining globally-systemic bank – faces additional scrutiny.

Last year’s “shotgun wedding” between UBS and Credit Suisse, after the latter had been hit by a string of missteps, scandals and losses, naturally raised questions about the calibre of Switzerland’s regulatory system, and its principal watchdog, FINMA, aka Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. 

FINMA’s new chief executive, Stefan Walter, has arrived in the job this week. His predecessor had left the job, citing the effect that the Credit Suisse saga had on his health.

A challenge for Switzerland is that UBS, the country’s sole remaining universal bank, has a balance sheet that is larger than the country’s economy. Such a position creates the problem of “too big to fail,” and the risks of what would happen to Switzerland if UBS were to be hit by a major financial problem.