Banks in Switzerland differ significantly with regard to their size, business focus, geographic scope of activities and legal form. In assessing banking sector stability, the SNB mainly concentrates on the big bank UBS and the domestically focused banks. The latter category comprises banks with a share of domestic loans to total assets exceeding 50% or which play a prominent role in the domestic deposit market. Further information on the number and categories of banks operating in Switzerland can be found on the SNB's data portal. Data and further information on such banks can also be consulted and downloaded on the SNB data portal at the topic Banks.

The SNB's assessment of the stability of the Swiss banking sector is presented in the Financial Stability Report.

The SNB is responsible for the oversight of financial market infrastructures of systemic importance to the Swiss financial system. To this end, it cooperates closely with FINMA as well as with foreign supervisory and oversight authorities.

Banks operating in Switzerland are subject to the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks (Banking Act).

Detailed regulations - e.g. on capital, liquidity, risk diversification and organisation - can be found in the Capital Adequacy Ordinance (CAO), the Liquidity Ordinance (LiqO) and the Ordinance on Banks and Savings Banks (Banking Ordinance). The banking legislation also takes account of international agreements and recommendations, e.g. the Basel Capital Adequacy Framework. The statutory provisions are supplemented by codes of conduct and recommendations that the banks themselves have adopted as self-regulatory measures.

Within this regulatory framework, the SNB is assigned specific responsibilities in two important areas: The regulatory framework stipulates that banks that are systemically important for Switzerland are subject to special requirements for capital, liquidity and organisational (Banking Act, section 5). The SNB is responsible for the designation of systemically important banks and their systemically important functions (Banking Act, section 5, art. 8; Decrees issued by the Swiss National Bank concerning systemic importance).

Furthermore, the regulatory framework stipulates that capital requirements may be tightened temporarily should imbalances on the Swiss lending market - and corresponding risks to financial stability - develop. Decisions on the activation, deactivation and level of the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) are taken by the Federal Council on the basis of a proposal by the SNB. The SNB consults with FINMA before submitting its proposal to the Federal Council.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) grants banking licences and is responsible for supervising banks.

Cooperation between FINMA and the SNB is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The financial intermediaries that are subject to the Federal Act on Banks and Saving Banks (Banking Act) are obliged to report data on their balance sheet, income statement and liquidity to the SNB. The SNB publishes the data in aggregated form - i.e. at the level of bank categories - on its data portal in the publication set 'Monthly banking statistics'. The analysis of the state and stability of Switzerland's banking sector is contained in the SNB's annual Financial Stability Report.