The Swiss government appears ready to name a woman to run its financial regulator. An insider may scupper those plans.
Mark Branson blindsided Finma: two days before the Swiss regulator’s annual media conference, the German government named him to reform its troubled financial regulator, Bafin. With more than five times the staff as Finma, Bafin represents a meatier and politically dicier challenge for Branson, a UBS banker turned overseer in 2010.
His move leaves Bern somewhat in the lurch: Finma had only just renewed its board this year, with the arrival of Asia expert Marlene Amstad (pictured above) as chair. Finma's board had no idea Branson was being courted by Berlin, which is dealing with one of the biggest German corporate scandals in recent history, Wirecard.
Credit Suisse Wreckage
His exit comes as Finma grapples with where to draw the line between fintech and banking as it weighs approval for Facebook-backed payment system Libra. Branson, who has a superb command of risk management systems, will also be sorely missed as the Swiss regulator assesses the wreckage at Credit Suisse from Archegos and Greensill.
Besides being a financial and regulatory crack, the requirements for Branson’s job include leadership experience in order to run a 500-person shop, technology expertise, independence, excellent communication skills and international connections, and the ability to tread the fine line between responsible oversight without stifling business.
Mounting Political Pressure
Political pressure is mounting for the Swiss government to appoint a woman to run Finma – and there are several of them who are eminently qualified. Swiss Re risk executive Nina Arquint (pictured above) sat on Finma’s management, where she was responsible for international cooperation, financial market regulation, legal and compliance as well as the strategic management, until 2014.
She followed ex-Finma CEO Patrick Raaflaub to the reinsurer, where she is a divisional risk chief. Another promising candidate is Susan Emmenegger (pictured above), a University of Bern professor. However, the 53-year-old banking lawyer was elected to Finma’s board earlier this year.
A board-level move to operationally running the regulator day-to-day would be highly unconventional – just as Branson’s Bern to Berlin move is. Another, more long-shot candidate mentioned by observers as a candidate is Eva Huepkes (pictured below), a Swiss lawyer currently with the Financial Stability Board in Basel.
Huepkes represented Finma in Basel working groups after the 2008/09 financial crisis and worked for the predecessor (Swiss Banking Commission) for more than ten years. Her academic background and absence of private-sector time don’t lend themselves to a hands-on CEO job.
Branson’s stand-in may put the kibosh on political ambitions to name a woman for the first time in Finma’s history: Jan Bloechliger (pictured below) has been chief banking regulator for the past three years, a role Branson also held until he was named CEO seven years ago.
Bloechliger has no private sector experience, save for at legal firms. Finma, which has for past searches used headhunter Egon Zehnder, said the process of replacing Branson is open to both internal and external candidates.
Not least, Bloechliger may have a leg up on outside candidates: as temporary Finma CEO, he is already working closely with Amstad, who according to Bern-watchers is more active in daily operations than her predecessors had been.
