Federal Council advocates a sustainable Swiss financial center
According to a media release from the federal government, the Federal Council discussed a sustainable Swiss financial center in the debate on December 6, 2019. The developments registered in the field now lead to the examination of whether regulatory action is required. The aim of the Federal Council is to create framework conditions that enable a sustainable financial sector to be competitive.
The Federal Council sees great opportunities for a sustainable Swiss financial center. It wants to create the framework conditions that will allow the financial center to be competitive in the area of sustainable finance.
Internal working group
As part of its June 26, 2019 debate on a sustainable Swiss financial center, the Swiss government established an internal working group and tasked it with various clarifications on this issue. Led by the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), the working group also consults with stakeholders in the financial market industry and interested external bodies, in close cooperation with the FOEN and other authorities such as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
One of the tasks of the working group is to discuss financial market regulation from a sustainability perspective.
Targets
Any need for action must meet the following overarching objectives: Increasing the competitiveness of the Swiss financial center, namely improving its ability to meet the demand for sustainable financial products, and achieving the climate targets. Accordingly, the Federal Council has now instructed the FDF to examine the following points in greater detail from the perspective of climate and environmental risks or their effects:
1. obligation to systematically disclose relevant and comparable information to customers, owners and investors; 2. strengthening of legal certainty in connection with due diligence obligations; 3. consideration of climate and environmental risks or their effects in all matters relating to financial market stability.
The Federal Council's policy on sustainability in the financial sector is guided by the principle of subsidiarity of government action and the primacy of market-based approaches. These principles will also have to be taken into account when considering the above issues.
In spring 2020, the working group will present its conclusions on the impact of the EU Action Plan for a Sustainable Financial Sector on the Swiss financial center and take stock of the measures taken so far by the public sector and the financial industry.
