Official SBA position on the Federal Council's proposed measures against excessive salaries at banks and insurance companies

Basel, 28 April 2010

• The SBA recognises the need for greater regulation of compensation systems, as we also regard excessive salaries as unacceptable.
• The thrust of the proposed measures is correct, as they do not seek to impose fixed upper limits or blanket bans.
• The SBA believes it is sensible that stock options will now be taxed when they are exercised. The principle that, for tax purposes, those components of variable remuneration dependent on company profits will no longer be treated as personnel expenses but as profit distribution also merits in-depth examination.
• However, we will resolutely defend ourselves against a situation whereby many of the stricter regulations are only intended to apply to the financial sector. This would discriminate against the financial sector and would result in an uneven legal playing field.
• We would also like to reiterate that the future structure of all measures must take international developments into account, as this could otherwise create major competitive disadvantages for the financial sector, a vital contributor to Switzerland’s prosperity, when it seeks to recruit specialists.