Incoming Swiss Banking Chief Warns Against Regulatory Over-Reach

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland risks undermining its position as a global financial centre by imposing excessive regulation on its banks, the incoming head of the country's banking lobby has warned, as Bern embarks on its biggest overhaul of the sector since the financial crisis. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Incoming Swiss banking chief warns against regulatory over-reach This content was published on August 31, 2026 - 11:21 4 minutes Mercedes Ruehl, Financial Times

Giorgio Pradelli, who heads Zurich-based bank EFG International, takes over as chair of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) next month.

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Speaking in his capacity as EFG chief executive, Pradelli said Switzerland could not assume its pre-eminence in global banking would endure as competing financial centres simplify their rules.

“We cannot take it for granted that Switzerland will always be prominent if we do not apply the right policies, including the regulatory framework,” he told the FT, adding it“had to be proportionate”.

Pradelli's intervention is a sign of how concerns that Bern risks overcorrecting for the collapse of Credit Suisse stretch across Switzerland's financial sector.

Although UBS, which took over its rival in a state-sponsored takeover in 2023, is the bank most directly affected by proposed new rules, the reforms reach across the banking system.

A proposed package finalised this month makes individual senior bankers more directly accountable for failures on their watch, tightens bonus and clawback provisions, gives market regulator FINMA greater enforcement powers and strengthens crisis planning and access to central bank liquidity.

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