variety of new fees makes it difficult for customers to compare the different offers. the fee structure needs to be drastically simplified. new legislation to resolve the ambiguities of its predecessor would appear necessary. within days we will submit to the government a comprehensive regulatory proposal that can lead to clearly stated charges, so that all customers can compare different banks and competition can operate freely, without the impediment of opacity. for a month, new rules on transparency in banking and financial services and on the “ basic current account ” have been in effect. a major contribution to improving relations between intermediaries and customers comes from the institution of the banking and financial arbiter, which has been in operation since 15 october. customer appeals have come in steadily, and the panels have already handed down their first decisions. in a number of cases disputes were settled in the customer ’ s favour even before the arbiter ’ s ruling. the initial signs are therefore very encouraging. the overall outcomes of customer complaints will be made public in april, providing useful information for supervisory action. http : / / www. bancaditalia. it / vigilanza / banche / questio / comm _ banche. pdf ( only in italian ). supervisory action the action of the bank of italy in supervising banks and financial intermediaries is governed by a consistent logic. on - site inspections, off - site controls, measures on capital and liquidity, provisions on banks ’ by - laws and managers ’ compensation, and rules and controls for transparency and correctness in dealings with customers are all shaped by the assessment of the risks to which intermediaries are subject. following the coordinated exercises conducted last year by the european supervisory authorities, a new round of stress testing of the major eu banks has begun in recent weeks. the results will be released by the end of june. stress tests are by now an ordinary supervisory tool ; the bank of italy, with the active participation of the banks, has promoted the corrective actions needed to refine and reinforce them. in 2009 we intervened repeatedly to remind banks of the need for full compliance with the rules on corporate organization and governance. for the cooperative banks, the aim has been to strike a balance between ensuring the stability of the governance structures approved by membership meetings and avoiding the risk of overly self - referential management. to this end we have recommended the amendment of by - laws to guarantee sufficient representation of minorities within the banks ’ governing bodies and to facilitate membership

news conference berne, 16 june 2022 fritz zurbrugg introductory remarks by fritz zurbrugg in my remarks today, i will present the key findings from the new financial stability report, published this morning by the swiss national bank. economic environment in the period between the publication of the last financial stability report and the end of 2021, economic and financial conditions for the swiss banking system remained favourable. gdp has returned to, or even exceeded, pre - crisis levels in most countries and unemployment rates have receded globally. corporate ratings have improved and credit quality has remained high. however, these conditions have recently become more challenging, due to both the war in ukraine and rising inflation around the world. as my colleague thomas jordan has explained, the snb ’ s baseline scenario assumes that the impact of the war in ukraine on domestic economic activity and inflation will be temporary and moderate. however, the economic outlook is subject to very high uncertainty regarding the development of financial and monetary conditions as well as economic activity. this environment presents various risks for financial stability. first, the deviation between market prices for residential real estate and the price level that can be explained by fundamental factors, such as income and rents, has continued to increase in many countries, including switzerland. second, stock valuations in some markets remain high despite recent corrections. third, sovereign and corporate debt levels rose significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. these vulnerabilities increase the sensitivity of the economy and of financial and real estate markets to adverse shocks. i would now like to outline the position of the two globally active banks, credit suisse and ubs. i will then present our assessment of the situation at the domestically focused banks. page 1 / 3 berne, 16 june 2022 fritz zurbrugg news conference globally active banks the two globally active banks developed differently in terms of profitability. ubs ’ s profitability increased and was high by historical comparison. at credit suisse, however, profitability was negative. this is on the one hand due to extraordinary items, such as large provisions for litigation, and on the other to relatively low operating performance during the period under review. the differing profitability is also reflected in market indicators such as cds premia and stock prices. after the archegos losses, the market drew a stronger distinction between the two banks and it continues to have a more positive assessment of ubs than credit suisse. with the outbreak of the war in ukraine, the market ’ s assessment