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The financial services industry faces many demanding challenges. Firms within this industry are predominantly knowledge-based, as are most of the industry's products, processes and services. The application of knowledge management represents a clear opportunity for financial services firms to confront challenges. However, no industry specific knowledge management model for financial services exists. The contribution of this paper is to develop such a model. A multi-level model is constructed by building upon and integrating the Resource-Based/Knowledge-Based Views (RBV/KBV) of the firm, knowledge strategy, methods, knowledge domains, and communities. Based on case study research, a set of guidelines is then proposed to aid in the implementation of the model. The model and guidelines offer new opportunities to become more efficient and effective in financial firms.

Switzerland and the UK recently signed the Berne Financial Services Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Financial Services. This agreement addresses the mutual recognition of the equivalence of the respective legal and supervisoryframeworks in selected areas of the financial sector, with the goal of strengthening competitiveness, promoting cooperation and enabling and facilitating cross-border market access of the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swiss government published a report identifying four areas for action for a leading sustainable financial centre with 15 measures and a position paper on next steps to be expected regarding the prevention of greenwashing in the financial sector, to consolidate the Swiss financial centre's leading role in sustainable finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the financial crisis of 2008, the European Union ('EU') not only increased its substantial legislation regarding financial services, but also built up a strong and unified system of financial market supervision. In particular, central surveillance authorities were created. These were given far-reaching competences with regard to substituting dysfunctional national authorities or players in the financial services sector. The three European Economic Area ('EEA') and European Free Trade Association ('EFTA') States—Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway—participate in the EU's internal market through their membership of the EEA. In order to continue participating on an equal footing in the internal market for financial services and to honour their duty to maintain homogeneity, the EEA EFTA States also had to incorporate the new institutional setup regarding financial services supervision. This obligation, however, in particular relating to certain intrusive powers of the new surveillance authorities, collided with some constitutional reservations, above all of the two Nordic EEA EFTA States. This article will show how these conflicting aims could be merged into a system that on the one hand guarantees the unified overall approach needed for strengthened surveillance of the internal market for financial services, and on the other hand safeguards certain constitutional reservations of the EEA EFTA States. It also looks at how third countries that do not (fully) participate in the internal market, such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland, are likely to be treated in this context by the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swiss Government has prepared a legislative reform in order to reduce market entry barriers for providers in the fintech area and increase legal certainty for the entire sector. It aims at easing the Swiss regulatory framework for providers of innovative financial technologies, expecting that a dynamic fintech system may significantly contribute to the quality of Switzerland's financial industry and also strengthen its competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the decision of the Supreme Court in Switzerland on retrocessions in the financial industry. Retrocessions are those forms of fee sharing arrangements agreed upon financial intermediaries. The court has held that retrocessions are subject to a statutory restitution duty if they are paid to a portfolio manager by the custodian bank holding. It has also considered that retrocession in structured products is to be characterised as a consideration for services.