ANNUAL REPORT

FMA Annual Report 2020

Pursuant to Article 28 of the Financial Market Authority Act (FMAG), the FMA is funded by a State contribution, supervisory taxes and fees, and income from the provision of services.

In its meeting of 19 November 2019, the Government approved the detailed 2020 FMA budget with a State contribution of CHF 5,000,000 and expenses of CHF 24,840,000. The actual expenses for the 2020 fiscal year were CHF 24,019,090, CHF 820,910 (3.3%) below the approved budget.

Income without the State contribution amounted to CHF 20,228,695, which was CHF 918,695 (4.8%) higher than budgeted.

Pursuant to Article 30b FMAG, the FMA is required to set aside reserves each year, until the total reserves have reached 25% of the average ordinary expenses over the past three years according to the financial statement. According to the transitional provision, the amount of the total reserves, in derogation from Article 30b, is set at 40% for the 2020 fiscal year. Under this legal requirement, the reserves for the year 2020 could reach a maximum of CHF 9,485,164. Because the reserves already amounted to CHF 9,619,644 as of 1 January 2020, CHF 134,480 in reserves were released effective 31 December 2020. The State contribution was adjusted accordingly. Instead of the budgeted CHF 5,000,000, the State contribution for 2020 was CHF 3,655,915. Total income including the State contribution was thus CHF 23,884,610. Deducting the total expenses of CHF 24,019,090, the accounts closed with a loss for the year of CHF 134,480.

Personnel expenses in the 2020 fiscal year amounted to CHF 17,295,734 and were thus CHF 34,266 (0.2%) lower than budgeted.

At CHF 5,241,027, other operating expenses were CHF 748,973 (12.5%) lower than budgeted. Travel expenses, IT costs, and basic and continuing training were the main items below budget. This was mainly due to heavily reduced travel because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Certain events and continuing training programmes were also cancelled or held virtually. The trend towards more online events will presumably continue, which has already been taken into account for the 2021 budget. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has also delayed some investments in IT projects and consulting mandates. In contrast, the “Other expenses” item exceeded its budget. This was mainly due to an increase in the position for bad debts.

At CHF 1,454,027, write-downs were CHF 45,973 (3.1%) below budget.

After offsetting the loss of the 2020 fiscal year in the amount of CHF 134,480 with the reserves, the total reserves now amount to CHF 9,485,164.