Parliament relies on reports instead of measures

The Federal Council says yes ten times. At its meeting on Wednesday, the government answered all pending requests from the committees on the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. And wants all of them transferred.

However, these are exclusively postulates. These instruct the Federal Council only to draw up a report. For example, it is now being investigated and evaluated whether and to what extent a lawsuit against the management bodies of Credit Suisse would be possible. The scope for action of the Swiss National Bank should also be examined more closely. The question of new “regulatory options for action” is also to be the subject of a report.

The answers from the Federal Council room are similar in wording. “The Federal Council shares the concern that the events that led to the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS and the government measures taken must be thoroughly investigated,” writes the government. There is repeated talk of “external experts” who are now being consulted and it is assured that the corresponding paper will be ready “within a year”.

Heated debate expected

To be fair, it must be said that the government dealt with the requests under a certain amount of time pressure. Only when these have been answered by the Federal Council can they also be dealt with in Parliament. This is already meeting on Tuesday for an extraordinary session on the megafusion.

Therefore, in addition to the urgent loans, these ten postulates are now also being debated. Nine are dealt with by the National Council, one is on the agenda of the Council of States. However, the time required should be kept within limits: the demands are fundamentally undisputed.

The debate about the loans is likely to get heated. However, Parliament’s hands are tied – if it rejects this, it is nothing more than a political rebuke. However, there are numerous applications that want to write conditions in the commitment credits. However, these are prospective in nature.

Session lasts a maximum of three days

The SP has already announced that it will reject the loans if its applications are not accepted. From the ranks of the SP there is also a request that further advances be put on the agenda. Among other things, this involves a cap for bonus payments at systemically important banks. However, this suggestion might be difficult.

Estimated for the extraordinary session are a maximum of three days. However, this time budget is unlikely to be exhausted.