Switzerland's top financial regulator Eugen Haltiner, who led the banking sector through a crisis that nearly crippled UBS and weakened Swiss bank secrecy, unexpectedly announced he will stand down. Haltiner, a former UBS managing board member, has been criticised in the media as being too close to the country's largest bank and for the way he handled a bitter US tax fraud investigation into UBS.
Haltiner's decision to leave Swiss financial regulator FINMA comes less than two weeks after the resignation of Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz, who emerged weakened from the unsuccessful fight to defend bank secrecy. "Although it was not an easy decision to make, the time is now right for me to step down. I am convinced that FINMA, guided by its strong executive board, will continue to establish itself and grow in a targeted way," Haltiner said in a statement that gave no other details.
Known for his feisty temperament and sharp comments, he famously characterised the bitter US-Swiss tax row over UBS that eventually pierced a hole in Switzerland's privacy rules as an "economic war". Haltiner, born in 1948, will stand down at the end of 2010, FINMA said on Wednesday.