The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) published its 2025 Risk Monitor, setting out the risks it considers most acute for the Swiss financial centre and the supervisory priorities it will derive from them. It portrays an intensified risk landscape across financial and non-financial areas, with geopolitical developments and digitalisation increasing exposure to sanctions-related and technology-driven risks, and it includes FINMA’s climate risk report for the first time. FINMA categorises nine principal risks as high: real estate and mortgage risks, credit risks from other lending, credit spread risk, and liquidity and funding risk; and, on the non-financial side, shortcomings in combating money laundering, sanctions risk, outsourcing risk, cyberattacks and broader ICT risks linked to system complexity, software errors and outdated systems. In mortgages, it highlights renewed price rises, regional indications of overheating in investment properties and holiday apartments, and very high per capita mortgage debt, warning that some institutions interpret affordability criteria too generously and increasingly grant loans outside their own guidelines; it also points to higher real estate exposure at life insurers and pension funds and signals a need for regulatory improvements in the area. Cyberattacks on institutions and service providers increased significantly, with almost half of reported incidents involving third parties, reinforcing FINMA’s call for more robust controls over the outsourcing of critical functions and stronger technological resilience. Supervisory follow-up includes close monitoring of mortgage underwriting and the ability to impose targeted measures or additional capital charges where necessary, alongside closer scrutiny of institutions’ and service providers’ cyber and ICT safeguards. The climate risk report, published to meet obligations under the CO2 Act, concludes that both transition risks and physical risks from climate change will increase, and it describes how institutions are integrating these risks into overall risk management and what measures FINMA is taking.
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) 2025-11-17
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority’s 2025 Risk Monitor flags nine high risks and tightens supervisory focus on outsourcing and cyber resilience
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) released its 2025 Risk Monitor, highlighting intensified risks in financial and non-financial sectors, including real estate, credit, and cyber risks. FINMA emphasizes stronger controls over outsourcing and technological resilience, closely monitoring mortgage underwriting and cyber safeguards. The report also includes FINMA’s climate risk assessment, noting increased transition and physical risks from climate change.