The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has appointed Yann Wermeille and David Wyss as new members of the Executive Board. They both had previously served as members of the Extended Executive Board and will replace Franz Stirnimann, Head of Markets Division, who is retiring at the end of the year. The Enforcement Section headed by David Wyss will be split from the existing Markets Division and in future will operate as an independent division of its own. Yann Wermeille will take over as Head of Markets Division. The new organisation will take effect on 15 March 2011.
Franz Stirnimann has announced that he will step down as Head of Markets Division since he is planning to retire at the end of 2011. The Markets Division, currently managed by Mr Stirnimann, is characterised by a broad area of technical specialisation. The responsibilities will be allocated to two new divisions which will be headed by two former members of the Extended Executive Board. Yann Wermeille (previously Head of the Collective Investment Schemes Section) will take over as Head of Markets Division, which includes the supervision of stock exchanges, asset managers, investment funds and money laundering as well as auditing and accounting. David Wyss, who previously served as Head of the Enforcement Section, will become a member of the Executive Board responsible for Enforcement and therefore for the mandatory implementation of financial market legislation by FINMA.
Patrick Raaflaub, FINMA CEO:
"Franz Stirnimann has contributed significantly to the development of FINMA. I would like to thank him for his enormous contribution in recent years and am happy that we will still be able to count on his experience and knowledge during the coming months."
Franz Stirnimann, Head of Markets Division:
"After many challenging years as a member of the Executive Board of the SFBC and FINMA, I feel it is now a good time to hand over responsibilities. I am very happy to be able to pass the torch to David Wyss and Yann Wermeille, two highly qualified internal candidates with whom I have enjoyed excellent collaboration for many years."
New Operations Division
Furthermore, FINMA announces that it will be setting up its own Operations Division. This will be headed by a Chief Operating Officer (COO) who has yet to be announced. The COO will also serve as a member of the FINMA Executive Board. The creation of the new Operations Division aims to further facilitate the ongoing operational development of FINMA. Strategic HR management will be a focus of the division. The aim is to ensure that FINMA is in the position to offer internal development opportunities to its employees while also being able to attract highly qualified new personnel for financial market supervision. Other focus areas will be processes and IT. The growth of the authority and the increased need for efficient and secure processes internally and externally are significant challenges for FINMA. The COO position is currently being advertised.
Six instead of four divisions
As a result of the reorganisation, FINMA will now have six instead of the four current divisions. The six Division Heads together with FINMA CEO, Patrick Raaflaub, will constitute the Executive Board. The FINMA Executive Board will be made up of Patrick Raaflaub, René Schnieper (Insurance), Urs Zulauf (Strategic Services), Mark Branson (Banks), Yann Wermeille (Markets), David Wyss (Enforcement) and the future COO (Operations).
Contact
Tobias Lux, Media Spokesperson, Phone +41 (0)31 327 91 71,
tobias.lux@finma.ch
