Supervision in the area of FinTech

SFMA supervises institutions in the field of FinTech in a risk-oriented and principle-based way. External audit firms play an important role in this.

Institutions with a FinTech licence (persons pursuant to Art. 1 b BA ) or a licence as a DLT trading facility are subject to supervision by SFMA. Ongoing compliance with the licensing requirements is key here.

Ongoing supervision

SFMA’s supervisory system distinguishes between direct supervision, where SFMA carries out the supervisory work itself, and indirect supervision, where SFMA appoints a regulatory audit firm to extend its reach. For this, SFMA relies on the work of audit firms which have been approved by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority. The audit firms are regularly requested by the supervised institutions to carry out regulatory audits. SFMA has a variety of supervisory instruments at its disposal, some of which it applies itself on site. In addition, SFMA can collect data provided that a needs-based approach is ensured.