Government seeks to hold top banking executives more accountable 

Switzerland provided billions in emergency liquidity to stricken Swiss bank Credit Suisse before it was taken over by rival UBS. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / ENNIO LEANZA

The Swiss parliament passed a motion late on Wednesday to make senior management of major banks return half their salary from the previous decade if the lender has to be rescued with public money. 

The motion, which still needs to be debated further, comes a year after Switzerland provided billions in emergency liquidity to stricken Swiss bank Credit Suisse before it was taken over by rival UBS.  

According to the motion, if a major bank is rescued by the government, top management should pay back 50% of their salary and bonuses from the previous 10 years.  

The motion stated: “The government is called upon to take measures to hold the top management of systemically important banks more accountable.” Put forward by a politician from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, it made explicit reference to the 2023 Credit Suisse case, as well as the 2008 rescue of UBS during the global financial crisis.  

The motion passed with 120 votes in favour, 55 against, and 18 abstentions.  

The Swiss government, which is due to present its own report with recommendations on how to better cope with banks deemed ‘too big to fail’, has proposed rejecting the motion. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/amva 

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