The Swiss Finance Council was established in November 2013 to engage in dialogue around policy developments in finance at a European and international level. It represents the interests of internationally active Swiss financial institutions and provides a platform to share their experience, expertise and knowledge through a permanent representative office in Brussels.
The Swiss Finance Council articulates and advocates the common interests of its members, provides a voice for their joint positions and a source of knowledge and experience in finance for policy makers and the industry at large. The organization enables its members to participate in policy discussions regarding European and international finance-related issues and develops positions and contributes on their behalf in the international and EU-level policy-making process.
The organization is led by a board, which currently consists of Urs Rohner, Chairman of the Board of Credit Suisse Group AG, Axel Weber, Chairman of the Board of UBS AG, Lukas Gähwiler, Chairman of the Board of UBS Switzerland AG and Peter Derendinger, Chairman of the Board of Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG. On 15 May 2019, Peter Derendinger was elected as Chairman of the Swiss Finance Council.
The Swiss Finance Council focuses on issues of relevance to international financial institutions, including:
- Banking Union
- Risk Reduction Measures
- Capital Market Union
- Key developments in taxation policies
- Digitalisation
- Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive
- Sustainable Finance
- Anti Money Laundering
- MiFID II
- European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR)