The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) is reorganizing its UBS oversight department effective January 1, 2027. The authority confirmed the restructuring to financial media, stating that the department will continue to comprise four groups.
According to Finma, the new structure aims to strengthen preventive supervision across four central areas: financial resilience, operational resilience, market conduct, and corporate governance. The authority provided no further details regarding the organizational changes. Christian Capuano was appointed as the head supervisor for UBS roughly a year ago.
The restructuring follows a personnel departure at the end of June, when a long-standing senior manager was dismissed and relieved of his duties. The employee, who had spent nearly twenty years at the authority and built the investment banking supervision team for major banks, was reportedly dismissed following incidents involving inappropriate remarks, including references to Adolf Hitler's birthday on April 20. While technically and professionally well-regarded by both peers and supervised entities, the official's conduct triggered internal disciplinary action.
Finma Director Stefan Walter reportedly decided in early 2026 to commission an external law firm to investigate the matter rather than routing it through internal compliance. The authority did not dispute the director's involvement upon inquiry. The disciplinary proceedings were allegedly initiated by two employees previously recruited from Credit Suisse, who initially worked in the UBS supervision team before transitioning to the newly established integrated risk expertise division.
Finma declined to comment on the specific individual case or to outline general principles regarding workplace conduct concerning offensive remarks. The authority stated that supervision of UBS, including the investment banking sector, remains fully assured, though it has not yet named a successor to lead the investment banking oversight team.
