Urban Angehrn Becomes New CEO of FINMA

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) announced today that Urban Angehrn, one of the leading names in the Swiss financial sector, has joined the authority as its new CEO. FINMA mentioned that the newly appointed CEO will recuse himself from items of business that concern his former employer.

Angehrn took the role from Jan Blöchliger, who held the position on an interim basis since Mark Branson’s departure on 1 May 2021. According to FINMA, Blöchliger returned to his role as Head of the Banks division and member of the Executive Board.

The latest announcement from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority has come nearly 10 days after the authority announced the appointment of Alberto Franceschetti and Marzio Hug to its Board of Directors.

“I am very happy to be joining a well-run, established authority. Since it was established almost thirteen years ago, FINMA has achieved a lot and laid the foundations for safeguarding financial stability, client protection and integrity in the financial center. Building on this, I now intend, together with the leadership team and the employees, to develop FINMA further, in particular by looking closely at the topic of change in the sector and actively accompanying this with an open mind as a supervisory authority,” Angehrn said.

Opportunities

FINMA has gained significant national and international recognition in the last few years, mainly due to its welcoming approach to innovative financial products. In September 2021, the authority approved the first Swiss cryptocurrency fund.

Commenting on the latest appointment, Marlene Amstad, Chair of FINMA’s Board of Directors, said: “The Swiss financial center faces major opportunities and challenges, particularly in relation to digitalization and sustainability. Besides his long and broad experience in the traditional focus areas of supervision, Urban Angehrn also has considerable experience in both of these areas. I am very much looking forward to driving progress in these areas of future relevance together with him and the whole of the FINMA leadership team.”