In a statement on 23 August, the regulator said this was connected to the new regulation of insurance intermediation, which has been in force since 1 January 2024. FINMA said it will monitor the application of the minimum standards and take measures particularly in cases where the statutory objectives of protecting consumers are at risk. The new self-regulation enters into force on 1 October 2024.

In the course of revising the Insurance Supervision Act and the Insurance Supervision Ordinance, the organisation of training and further education for insurance intermediaries was delegated to the insurance industry.

FINMA said this should ensure that the specific requirements of the industry are captured in meaningful, practical and adaptable educational standards. As the industry organisation, the Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association (VBV) has drawn up the minimum standards in accordance with the statutory requirements and submitted them to FINMA for recognition as binding industry-wide self-regulation.

Under the new regulation, the requirements for training and further education apply to all insurance intermediaries, both tied and untied.

The goal set by the legislator is to improve consumer protection in the area of insurance intermediation. To achieve this, appropriate quality standards for the skills and knowledge that insurance intermediaries need for their work are required. These requirements must take into account the complexity of the products offered and the policyholders’ need for protection.

The minimum standards apply to all intermediaries. This is intended to ensure that sales consultations for insurance products are conducted with the necessary quality. The new provisions call for detailed knowledge of the insurance products and the applicable regulatory framework. In future, tied and untied insurance intermediaries must be able to prove that they have passed a professional examination and complete regular further training.

FINMA will monitor the application of the new self-regulation by supervised insurance companies and intermediaries and intervene if the objectives of client protection appear to be jeopardised.

The minimum standards will come into force on 1 October 2024. The VBV is responsible for the technical implementation so that audits can be carried out in accordance with this new regime from August 2025. In the meantime, the transitional provisions set out in the minimum standards apply.

Harpreet Bindra has been named as chief executive of HSBC Life (Singapore).

He will succeed Ho Lee Yen, who has decided to spend more time with her family, having successfully completed the integration of the businesses of AXA Singapore and HSBC Insurance.

Bindra joined HSBC in 2018.

Ocorian

The financial services provider has appointed Chantal Free as chief executive.

Free joins Ocorian from Capita, where she was chief executive of its portfolio division.

Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG)

The group has appointed Richard Harrison as chief executive.

He will join SBG from Wesleyan Assurance Society, where he is currently chief distribution officer.

Harrison joins SBG on 2 January 2024, at which point current interim chief executive John Cowan will resume his role as chair of the SBG board.

Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma)

Urban Angehrn will step down at the end of September 2023 as chief executive.

It has appointed deputy chief executive Birgit Rutishauser as chief executive ad interim with effect from 1 October 2023.

Angehrn will be at her disposal to ensure an orderly handover of all business and for follow-up to the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.

The board of directors has begun the process of filling the position of Finma chief executive.

Amundi

The asset manager has named Pierre Jond as chief executive of Amundi Luxembourg and chairman of Fund Channel, the B2B fund distribution platform jointly owned by Amundi and Caceis.

Before joining Amundi, Jond was head of France and Belgium region with BNP Paribas Securities Services.

Jond replaces Jeanne Duvoux, who has been appointed head of business support and operations for Amundi Group.

Fairstone Group

Peter Donaldson has been named as managing director of the firm’s partnership channel.

He moves from his current role as a Fairstone divisional director. Donaldson joined the business in 2021.

St James’s Place (SJP)

Joe Wiggins has been named as director of investment research for the wealth manager.

He will join SJP on 12 September and previously worked as chief investment officer at Fundhouse.

Seven Investment Management (7IM)

The wealth manager has appointed Agustin Fernandez as managing director for corporate and strategy development.

He joins from HSBC, where he was head of Emea wealth and asset management wealth tech within the investment banking division for four years. Fernandez joined HSBC in 2011.

Professional Wealth Management

The IWP-owned firm has hired Alex Tait and Will Welch as financial advisers.

The duo were previously professional rugby players for Newcastle Falcons.

Ascot Lloyd

The IFA group has appointed Jaco Cebula as group technology officer.

For the past 18 months, Cebula has worked closely with the Ascot Lloyd team in his role as a technology consultant for Sionic, a global consulting firm.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

The Singapore regulator has appointed Chia Der Jiun as managing director.

Chia takes over from Ravi Menon, who will retire from the Singapore Public Service and step down as managing director.

He is currently Permanent Secretary (Development) at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), had previously spent 18 years at MAS, where he played a leadership role across MAS’ major functions, including monetary policy implementation, reserve management, banking supervision, prudential policy, and macroeconomic surveillance.

Nedgroup Investments

The global asset manager has expanded its international distribution team with the hiring of Rachel Ferguson as client solutions lead, effective September.

Prior to joining Nedgroup, Ferguson worked as a business development manager at Aegon Asset Management (formally Kames Capital) and was with the firm for a total of seven years.

Rothschild & Co

The financial services giant has hired Alfredo Pérez de Quesada Garrido as a senior client adviser in Spain.

He has over 18 years’ experience in the financial industry and joins from Credit Suisse (Madrid).

Also, Rothschild & Co has hired five client advisers in its wealth management business in Zurich, to focus mainly on clients from Central and Eastern Europe. The new team joins from Credit Suisse.

The team is headed by Gerold Reiser, who has over 18 years’ experience as a private banker.

Alongside Reiser, the four other client advisers joining Rothschild & Co are Maciej Wiackowski, Magdalena Majewska Koch, Viktors Bolbats and Lars Lang.

Square Mile

The research and consulting firm has appointed Maria Mealing as a business development director.

Mealing has over 30 years’ industry experience, most recently as associate director at Janus Henderson.

Walker Crips Financial Planning

Matthew Crawshaw and Kaz Dev have joined the firm as regional director for the Midlands and assistant director in the south west region, respectively.

Crawshaw joins from Abrdn, where he was regional director for the north and midlands.

Dev joins from Francis Clark Financial Planning, where he served as head of professional services and chartered financial planner.

Third Financial

The investment platform has named David Lewis as chairman of its regulated entity Third Platform Services.

Most recently, he was managing director at BNY Mellon in London.

Investigative journalism network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project received the data from German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which was sent the documents by one unnamed person.

The information refers to around 18,000 accounts which held more than $100bn (£74bn, €87bn), according to The New York Times.

The allegations claim that the Swiss bank’s customers were human rights abusers and businessmen who had been placed under sanctions.

Credit Suisse has rebuked all allegations.

‘Partial, inaccurate or selective information’

The Swiss banking group was quick to respond to media reports with a statement on its website.

It said: “Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank’s purported business practices. The matters presented are predominantly historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of these matters are based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank’s business conduct.

“While as a matter of law, Credit Suisse cannot comment on potential client relationships, we can confirm that actions have been taken in line with applicable policies and regulatory requirements at the relevant times, and that related issues have already been addressed.

“Following numerous inquiries by the consortium over the last three weeks, Credit Suisse has reviewed a large volume of accounts potentially associated with the matters raised. Approximately 90% of the reviewed accounts are today closed or were in the process of closure prior to receipt of the press inquiries, of which over 60% were closed before 2015. Of the remaining active accounts, we are comfortable that appropriate due diligence, reviews and other control related steps were taken in line with our current framework. We will continue to analyse the matters and take additional steps if necessary.

“Credit Suisse notes that the consortium is referring to a large number of external sources including those previously known as well as an alleged leak in their reporting. We take this latter allegation very seriously and will continue with our investigations with an internal task force including specialist external experts. We have robust data protection and data leakage prevention controls in place to protect our clients.

“As a leading global financial institution, Credit Suisse is deeply aware of its responsibility to clients and the financial system as a whole to ensure that the highest standards of conduct are upheld. These media allegations appear to be a concerted effort to discredit not only the bank but the Swiss financial marketplace as a whole, which has undergone significant changes over the last several years.

“In line with financial market reforms across the sector and in Switzerland, Credit Suisse has taken a series of significant additional measures over the last decade, including considerable further investments in combating financial crime. Across the bank, Credit Suisse continues to strengthen its compliance and control framework, and as we have made clear, our strategy puts risk management at the very core of our business.”

Regulatory intervention?

Swiss financial watchdog Finma told International Adviser that while it does not comment on individual media reports, it is aware of the articles.

It added that it has been in contact with Credit Suisse “in this context” and that “compliance with money laundering regulations has been a focus of our supervisory activities for years now,” the Finma spokesperson added.

According to Reuters, the banking giant said it “regretfully acknowledged” that Antonio Horta-Osorio arrived in the country on 28 November but left just three days later.

In a statement, Horta-Osorio said: “I aim to abide by Swiss quarantine rules and strictly followed the protocol from the moment I entered the country.”

He admitted to “unintentionally” violating the rules by leaving on 1 December. “I sincerely regret this mistake. I apologise and will ensure that this does not happen again.”

It’s an inauspicious start for the man who only stepped into the role in 2021, having previously been chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group.

Horta-Osorio is understood to have travelled to Switzerland from the UK.

Unhappy watchdog

In a separate Reuters article, Switzerland’s financial regulator, Finma, confirmed that it has reached out to Credit Suisse.

“We are in contact with the bank regarding the matter,” a spokesperson said, declining to comment further.

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The financial watchdog banned the private bank from making acquisitions in February 2020 after it found the firm had fell “significantly short” in combating money laundering in its Latin America operation between 2009 and 2018.

The failures related to alleged cases of corruption linked to a state-owned oil firm, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and world football organisation Fifa, which resulted in enforcement proceedings by Finma.

The decision is based on a status report from Finma’s mandated auditor, which is supervising the implementation of the measures ordered by the Swiss regulator.

Julius Baer said in a statement: “Finma will continue to closely accompany Julius Baer until the full implementation of these measures through the mandated auditor and additional supervisory measures.

“Julius Baer welcomes the lifting of the ban on complex acquisitions given the significant progress the bank has made in strengthening its company-wide risk management, particularly with regard to money laundering prevention.”

‘Open’ to deals

The Swiss private banking group has plans to bolster its offering via acquisitions.

Phillipp Rickenbacher, Julius Baer chief executive, told German-language Swiss financial publication themarket on 3 November: “Acquisitions have been one of our strengths in the past.

“They have made us the global bank that we are today, and acquisitions will continue to play a role in the future. We are open to big, transformational acquisitions.”