Germany's financial regulator Bafin is naming Mark Branson, the CEO of Swiss financial regulator Finma, as its new president.
Berlin-based Bafin is appoint Mark Branson as its new head, it emerged in a statement on Monday from Finma announcing his departure as CEO. «He will take on the role of president of the federal financial supervisory authority Bafin in Germany from mid-2021,» Finma said. German finance minister Olaf Scholz later confirmed the appointment in a statement (in German).
Branson replaces Felix Hufeld, who stepped down in the wake of lapses in Germany's regulatory handling of defunct Wirecard. A British-Swiss former UBS top banker, Branson has been with Finma since 2010 and run the body for the last seven years.
«This is a very difficult step for me to take. I am very proud of what this relatively small team has time and again achieved together in very challenging times,» Branson said. He began his career at Coopers & Lybrand before moving to Credit Suisse, then SBC Warburg in 1997, and finally UBS.
Battle-Tested UBS Banker
The 52-year-old is about to take on roughly four times the employees – more than 2,500 people – amid the biggest financial scandal to hit Germany in years. Branson will also need to dig into Greensill, the insolvent U.K. supply chain financier which owns a Bafin-regulated bank based in Bremen.
He is battle-tested: Branson testified on behalf of UBS to U.S. lawmakers at the height of the Swiss bank's troubles with U.S. prosecutors over hidden offshore accounts for wealthy Americans. He also oversaw UBS' activities in Japan between 2006 and early 2008, when the bank has been found to have rigged Libor, including in Tokyo.
Finma later gave him the all-clear over the fraud, arguing that UBS' traders answered to investment banking leadership in London, not to Branson (he was never accused of any wrongdoing). Branson, who studied math and management studies and Cambridge as well as operational research in Lancaster, joined Finma in 2010, initially supervising banks before advancing to its management.
Naming, Shaming Bankers
During his time at Finma, the Bern-based regulator took a more proactive approach to money laundering as Swiss banks emerged in massive graft scandals like Malaysia's 1MDB and Venezuelan PDVSA. He also ushered in an era of naming and shaming individual bankers for crimes like insider trading – a stark departure from Bern's more hushed ways.
Finma said its top banking supervisor, Jan Bloechliger, will take over temporarily from Branson, effective May 1. The move eschews Branson's deputy, Birgit Rutishauser, who was appointed nearly two years ago. Finma said its board has begun the process to select a new CEO, and that Branson will now focus on the transition.
Well-Connected With Peers
Finma has spent much of the last year looking at Diem, a Facebook-backed payments system which blurs the lines between banking and fintech. The project, formerly known as Libra, has chosen to set itself up in a Geneva-based association, which means it falls under Finma’s purview.
Branson's boss, Marlene Amstad, noted last month that Finma needed to discuss with fellow regulators internationally «where does a software company end and a bank begin? Or the other way around?». Branson is far better equipped to do so than Hufeld, his predecessor, because he is impeccably connected outside his home turf: Branson runs the Financial Stability Board’s ReSG, or Resolution Steering Group, and he’s also part of a team of central bank and regulatory heads (GHOS).
