Swiss regulator says two banks’ crisis plans are insufficient

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FINMA questioned the ability of Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) and PostFinance to continue functioning in case they experienced a crisis. It said “ZKB has not yet built up the required capital in full” and that “PostFinance must realign its emergency planning.”

The assessment released by FINMA gauged the emergency plans of Switzerland’s main banks as they stood at the end of 2022. It does not therefore take into account Credit Suisse’s merger with UBS.

The financial regulator had positively viewed the crisis plan Credit Suisse had developed last year, saying the bank, which last month had to be rescued by UBS in a takeover engineered by Swiss authorities, had an emergency plan that was ready to be implemented.

“It is clear that there are important lessons to be learned from the Credit Suisse crisis for future crisis preparations,” FINMA’S Chief Executive Urban Angehrn said.

In the wake of Credit Suisse’s takeover, the regulator deflected blame for the debacle at the country’s second-biggest bank, saying it had been quick to respond, calling instead for more powers to take lenders to task.