The most important changes requiring a licence or authorisation from FINMA are as follows:
Changes to articles of association and regulationsmust be authorised by FINMA before they enter into force.
If a Swiss bank is to be transferred to foreign control, it needs an additional licence. The same applies to Swiss-controlled securities dealers and changes to qualified participations in foreign-controlled institutions.
Banks and securities dealers that use individual risk models to calculate capital adequacy requirements must have these authorised by FINMA.
Systemically important banks require FINMA’s authorisation to include certain capital instruments in their capital adequacy calculations.