Business · Companies · 12 hrs ago
FINMA chief says wealth management needs risk-based oversight
FINMA director Stefan Walter said the regulator is closely examining wealth management at a speech in Vezia, near Lugano.
The business includes managing assets for clients and funds, and Walter said the total value involved in Switzerland was 4,222 billion francs.
He said oversight focuses on activities and their risks, not just licence categories, and is not meant to make the business harder.
The concern is that clients could lose money and that misconduct could harm the reputation of Switzerland’s financial sector.
FINMA’s opened supervisory cases rose from 7 in 2023 to 60 in 2025, but Walter said this increase should not be treated as a verdict on the whole industry.
He pointed to recurring risks, including complex or hard-to-sell investments being used without enough checks on whether they suit clients.
Walter said protecting clients and maintaining strong standards support Switzerland’s competitiveness, while no further regulatory steps were specified.
FINMA Director Stefan Walter said the regulator oversees wealth management according to the activities performed and the risks involved.
He said FINMA has collected cross-sector data on wealth management for two years.
The article reports that wealth management mandates and fund assets managed in Switzerland totalled 4,222 billion Swiss francs.
Walter said the regulator’s scrutiny aims to address risks, not make the business more difficult.
He highlighted customer losses and reputational damage as risks, while describing Swiss financial-sector stability and risk-based oversight as strengths.
- Who
- Stefan Walter, director of FINMA, Switzerland’s financial regulator.
- What
- He explained why FINMA closely supervises wealth management and said oversight should focus on activities and risks.
- When
- Thursday; the article was published on 15 October 2026.
- Where
- Centro Studi Villa Negroni in Vezia, near Lugano, Switzerland.
- Why
- Wealth management is important to customers and the Swiss financial sector, but carries risks including customer losses and reputational damage.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
FINMA opened 7 supervisory cases involving wealth managers, according to the article.
FINMA published a supervisory notice about risks from the use of products in individual wealth management.
Walter spoke to representatives of the Ticino financial centre at Centro Studi Villa Negroni in Vezia.
FINMA had opened 60 supervisory cases involving wealth managers, up from 7 in 2023.
- Total assets
- 4,222 billion Swiss francs in wealth management mandates and fund assets managed in Switzerland
- Data collection
- FINMA has gathered cross-sector wealth-management data for two years
- Collective asset managers
- Managed 38% of the reported assets
- Banks and securities firms
- Managed 32% of the reported assets
- Supervisory cases
- 7 in 2023; 60 in 2025
- Location
- Centro Studi Villa Negroni, Vezia, near Lugano
What people are saying
We are not interested only in the licensing category under which an activity is carried out. We are interested in what activity is carried out and what risks are associated with it.
We do not want to make this business more difficult – on the contrary: because of its importance for customers and for the Swiss financial centre.
It would be wrong to draw a general conclusion about an entire industry from this.
The Swiss seal of quality in global competition is the stability of politics, the economy and the currency.