Monday, 22 Mar 2021 11:11 PM MYTSubscribe to ourFRANKFURT, March 22 — Mark Branson, the head of Switzerland’s financial markets regulator, is to become president of Germany’s finance watchdog BaFin, the finance ministry said today, as part of a shake-up at the regulator after the Wirecard fraud.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, whose ministry oversees BaFin, has responded by granting the watchdog more powers to spot and investigate wrongdoing and sought fresh leadership. “It’s cultural protectionism and deep rooted,” he said, calling into question Germany’s willingness to tackle this. “Regulation, whether of money laundering or banks, is weak in Switzerland,” Rudolf Strahm, an academic and former Swiss lawmaker said. But Branson isn’t to blame, he added.
BaFin has more recently faced criticism from German lawmakers and investors in relation to the collapse of Greensill Bank.