Enforcement of financial regulation in Switzerland

June 26, 2025 | Roy Gava

How has FINMA effectively used its enforcement toolbox in response to breaches of supervisory law?

This working paper presents an original and publicly available dataset on regulatory enforcement by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

The paper is structured in two parts. The first part presents the GEFI dataset on FINMA enforcement, describing its coverage and structure. The second part revisits FINMA’s enforcement record between 2009 and 2024. In the context of ongoing discussions about the reform of enforcement instruments, it provides an empirical overview of actions targeting banks and bankers with a focus on (1) frequency and topics of actions, (2) naming of banks through media releases, (3) financial penalties in the form of confiscations, and (4) the application of industry and activity bans against individuals.

The dataset is available in the GEFI Swiss data section

The accompanying working paper can be accessed here.