Dr. Thomas Bauer

Thomas Bauer has spent most of his working life outside the legal profession per se. He gained his first experience in business in the banking sector (banking law, contract drafting, tax law, litigation) between 1986 and 1994. He participated in technical committees of the Swiss Bankers Association and the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland for several years. After joining EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in 1994 and as a long-standing member of the specialist staff law of the Swiss Chamber of Trustees (now Expertsuisse), he dealt with accounting law and regulatory issues pertaining to all commercial law. At EY, he headed the “Dormant Accounts” project on behalf of the Swiss Bankers Association (1998–2010) and, for 15 years, the “restructuring and insolvencies” practice group. Thomas Bauer headed several insolvency proceedings involving international corporations (construction, sports marketing, and industry) and was a member of creditors’ committees. He conducted a number of forensic investigations on behalf of the financial industry and FINMA.

His publications on commercial, banking and insolvency law have attracted national and international attention, leading to multiple invitations as a guest speaker and lecturing assignments at the universities of Zurich and Basel. Thomas Bauer is co-publisher of the “Basler Kommentare” on the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (SchKG) (3rd edition in 2021) and on the Swiss Banking Act (3rd edition planned for 2022).

Keen to promote an efficient, citizen-oriented judicial system, Thomas Bauer was President on a part-time basis of the Basel-Landschaft Cantonal Court of Appeals (Civil and Criminal Law Division) for a large part of his professional life (1991–2016). In doing so, he attached importance to forward-looking decisions and dispute settlements. In the field of criminal law, he led several large and complex proceedings in the field of economic crime.

From 2016 to 2020, he served full-time as chairman of the board of directors of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. In addition to this, he took a close interest in issues surrounding strategy, governance and financial market law. He was a keen advocate of dialog between the financial sector and the authorities.

During his time as a student in Basel, he attended lectures on economics, history and philosophy, areas he still works in today. He obtained his license to practice in 1984 (magna cum laude). His dissertation on international stock exchange law (summa cum laude) was awarded the Cooperative Prize in 1987.