Timeline

During an audit, the SFAO uncovers potential fraudulent activities at RUAG MRO. Among other things, a former senior manager sold spare parts for Leopard 1 tanks at prices allegedly below market value, resulting in a loss running into the high double-digit millions for RUAG MRO.

As early as 2016, the SFAO indicated that a system should be put in place to ensure compliance with the regulations and laws – which might have prevented the fraudulent activities. This case shows that robust regulations are important for preventing potential fraud, and that the SFAO’s recommendations in this regard must be taken seriously.

On 18 June 2021, the Federal Assembly amends the Federal Act on Political Rights and establishes rules on transparency in political funding. This concerns the National Council and the Council of States elections, federal votes and the funding of the political parties represented in Parliament. Donations from abroad and anonymous donations are now prohibited. A year later, the SFAO is tasked to receive, verify and publish information provided by political actors. The new legal framework applies for the first time to the 2023 Federal elections.

In 2025, a study by the University of Bern, commissioned by the SFAO, shows that this enforcement task should not be the responsibility of the SFAO. It jeopardises the SFAO’s independence – and thus a central pillar of its work. The mandate of a supreme financial supervisory authority is to audit the expenditure of the Federal Administration, not the private funds of political actors. The SFAO is therefore calling for this task to be assigned to a new post.

On 2 October 2001, Swissair goes bankrupt. 14 years after Swissair went into receivership, the airline’s liquidator accepts the criticisms of the SFAO regarding the use of the Confederation’s loan. Result: CHF 220 million returns to the federal coffers.

Audit work by the SFAO indicates non-compliant tax exemption for a multinational based in the Lake Geneva region. On 19 December 2012, the Brazilian mining group Vale International settles its tax dispute and refunds CHF 212 million to the Confederation and the canton of Vaud.

But the SFAO is also subjected to audit. The German Federal Audit Office carries out a peer review of the SFAO. Since then, the SFAO has commissioned further reviews: in 2009, the Norwegian Court of Auditors examined the SFAO’s evaluations and cross-sectional audits. The European Court of Auditors delivered its 2016 peer review on the topics of strategy, programme planning and quality control. In 2021, the French Cour des comptes focused its report on independence, communication, ethics and governance. In all cases, the results were positive and the SFAO has implemented all the recommendations.

The Federal Council entrusts the SFAO with a new task. It is to gather the reported suspicions of federal administration whistleblowers.

After more than one year of work with Gemini Consulting AG, the SFAO undergoes a reorganisation. The silo structure is discarded. The institution henceforward has a two-dimensional matrix structure. On the one hand, the assessment-focused areas mimic the organisation of the federal departments. On the other, the competence centres group the auditors by speciality (auditing, IT specialists, assessors, etc.). At the same time, the SFAO moves into new premises at 45 Monbijoustrasse, former home
of the Swiss Cheese Union.

Following the embezzlement of funds by former Military Intelligence accountant Dino Bellasi, the Federal Council tasks the SFAO with analysing the payment operations of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. The Department’s financial management needs to be profession-alised. Thus, over 120 measures are proposed to improve payments processing and to apply the “four eyes” principle.

The lessons of the FPF debacle inspire the drafting of a new version of the FAOA. On 22 June 1998, the Federal Council sends Parliament a dispatch aimed at institutionally strengthening the SFAO. The latter is to set its audit programme itself. It can refuse audit requests that threaten its ability to accomplish that programme. Its field of activity extends to companies in which the Confederation has a majority shareholding. Finally, communications and staffing policies are left in the hands of its director. Parliament approves this amendment. On 19 March 1999, the SFAO becomes “the supreme external financial oversight body”, subject only to the law and the Constitution.

At the request of Armin Jeker, director of the SFAO, University of Bern law professor Rudolf Probst produces a report on the institution, its organisation and its methods. From the outset, this report rejects the notion of a Court of Auditors on the grounds that it would be ineffective. It proposes, however, to base the activities of the SFAO on a law rather than on a regulation. There is no clear boundary between the remits of the SFAO and those of the departmental auditing bodies. This leads to overlaps. The SFAO must be able to propose solutions directly to the Federal Council. A new organisation of this kind implies an increase in staff. After review by the finance committees and the FDF, the report is shelved and remains unpublished.

On 26 September 1939, the Federal Council puts in place a group of auditors dedicated to the wartime economy. They constitute a new section of the SFAO, which will exist for the entire duration of the hostilities.

The SFAO is affected by the influenza epidemic: it gives rise to over 500 days of staff absence. This delays the auditing of accounts by two years, much to Parliament’s displeasure.

With the creation of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the SFAO is relieved of its auditing duties and responsibility as custodian and administrator of the Confederation’s securities portfolio.

In the federal directory, the Audit Bureau is replaced by “Financial Audit”.

The FFA staff regulations come into effect on 1 January 1852. They contain a reference to a permanent position of auditor of accounts.