FINMA is responsible for implementing financial market legislation and further regulations connected herewith. It makes the rulings required for such purpose. Within the scope of its legal duties, FINMA may appoint agents to enforce regulatory compliance. In practice, this includes appointing one or several investigating agents under Article 36 FINMASA or liquidators or liquidators in bankruptcy of a supervised company.
To enable it to select a suitable agent in specific situations, FINMA maintains a list of around 70 potential suppliers (auditors, lawyers or other individuals with experience of the law governing financial markets, insolvencies and liquidations). This list is regularly updated.
FINMA always welcomes applications (in
German,
French or
Italian) from suitably qualified individuals or companies wishing to act as agent on behalf of FINMA. Documents submitted in support of applications are reviewed once or twice a year.
The
Report on SFBC-Commissioned Experts (in German) published on 20 March 2008 provides an overview of past experiences gathered in the course of the appointment of investigating agents for supervisory enforcement purposes.