News
06 / 12 / 2024
News - Transparency political funding
Transparency in political funding: Definitive receipts for the 22 September 2024 popular vote campaigns
Two proposals were put to the vote on 22 September 2024. Campaigners who spent more than CHF 50,000 had to disclose their funding. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) publishes the final figures reported by the campaign managers in the electronic reporting register 75 days after each popular vote. The definitive receipts reported for the...
25 / 10 / 2024
News - Transparency political funding
Transparency in political funding: budgets for popular votes of 24.11.2024 now available
Four proposals will be put to the vote on 24 November 2024. Campaigners who spend more thanCHF 50 000 must disclose their funding. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) publishes the datareported by the campaigners 30 days before the federal popular vote. The budgeted receipts arepublished in detail in SFAO’s electronic reporting register. At the...
30 / 08 / 2024
Press release - Transparency political funding
Transparency in political financing – disclosure of party financing for the calendar year 2023
Bern, 30 August 2024 – Political parties in the Federal Assembly disclose their financing annually as at 30 June of the following year as part of the new regulations on transparency in political financing. The Swiss Federal Audit Office today published the corresponding figures in the electronic reporting register for the first time, together with...
23 / 08 / 2024
News - Transparency political funding
Final accounts and budgets for the popular votes (9 June and 22 September 2024)
Bern, 23 August 2024 – Two proposals will be put to the vote on 22 September 2024. The budgeted receipts are now available and have been published in the SFAO’s electronic reporting register. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) publishes them at least 30 days before federal popular votes. The final reported receipts for the...
21 / 05 / 2024
Press release
Annual report 2023 – The Swiss Federal Audit Office focuses on subsidies, ICT and digitalisation projects
In addition to numerous audit findings, the annual report of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) contains two summary reports on the overarching topics of subsidies and digital transformation. The findings from numerous audits on such topics are important for the strained federal budget as it looks to the future. During the reporting year, the...
17 / 05 / 2024
News - Transparency political funding
Transparency in political funding – final accounts from federal votes of 3 March 2024 are available
Bern, 17 May 2024 – The final reported receipts are available for voting campaigns of the popularvotes on 3 March 2024. They are greater than the budgeted figures disclosed before the ballot. TheSwiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) conducted material audits of four campaigns for these popularvotes and published a corresponding list. Intense voting campaign led...
10 / 05 / 2024
News - Transparency political funding
Transparency in political funding – budgeted receipts for popular vote of 9 June 2024 are available
Four proposals are to be put to a popular vote on 9 June 2024. The estimated receipts are now available and have been published in the electronic reporting register of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). The SFAO always publishes the information 30 days before federal popular votes. Total volume of donations subject to reporting obligations amounts...
22 / 04 / 2024
News
Abklärung zum Vorwurf der unangemessenen Einflussnahme beim Vorhaben CISM 2025 in Bezug auf den Standort Goms als Austragungsort
Die Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle (EFK) hat am 22. März 2024 an das Generalsekretariat VBS (GS-VBS) aufgrund einer Whistleblowing-Meldung geschrieben. Sie hat nach Prüfung verschiedener Unterlagen darin Abklärungsfragen gestellt. Das GS-VBS hat die Fragen der EFK in einem Brief beantwortet. Das Schreiben der EFK gelangte in Auszügen durch Medien an die Öffentlichkeit. Durch das GS-VBS wurde diesbezüglich...
19 / 01 / 2024
Transparency political funding - Press release - Press release
Transparency in political funding – final accounts from 2023 federal elections are available
Political funding at federal level is subject to new transparency requirements. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) now has the final reported receipts from the 2023 elections, together with a list of the people and organisations audited during the election campaign. The budgeted receipts for the campaigning in connection with the popular votes on 3...
11 / 01 / 2024
Press release
Whistleblowing: the number of reporting offices in public administrations has doubled
Between 2018 and 2022, the number of whistleblowing reporting offices almost doubled. This positive and welcome trend is revealed in a study commissioned by the Swiss Federal Audit Office from the Graubünden University of Applied Sciences (FHGR). The survey covered the Confederation, all the cantons and the seven largest Swiss cities. Whistleblowing is regarded as...
31 / 08 / 2023
Press release
SFAO audits on the Leopard 1 tank incidents
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has made an initial assessment of the events surrounding transactions involving Leopard 1 battle tanks that became public on 21 August 2023. It has decided to conduct the following audits.
03 / 02 / 2023
Press release
Die Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle startet eine neue akademische Zusammenarbeit mit der Universität Lausanne
Ab diesem Frühjahr bietet die Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle (EFK) in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut de hautes études en administration publique (IDHEAP) der Universität Lausanne (UNIL) einen neuen Lehrgang an. Dieser richtet sich an Führungskräfte und Spezialisten im Bereich der Finanzaufsicht und der Rechnungsprüfung im öffentlichen Sektor sowie an weitere interessierte Personen. Der Lehrgang führt zu einem...
20 / 12 / 2022
Press release - Press release
“In these unstable times, our institution must be agile”
Pascal Stirnimann, the new Director of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO), has given a positive assessment of his first days at the helm of the federal financial supervisory authority. Many challenges lie ahead for this institution, which enjoys a high level of credibility within the federal government.
02 / 03 / 2021
Press release
Swiss Federal Audit Office gets good marks from French Cour des comptes
At the end of 2020, experts from the French Cour des comptes issued an audit report on the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). Their findings were presented to the Finance Delegation in February 2021. The results of this peer review were good. The French experts’ recommendations will be implemented by the SFAO management by the...
15 / 09 / 2020
Press release
Antikorruptionskonvention der OECD: Verbesserungen zum Schutz von Whistleblowern
Der von der OECD-Arbeitsgruppe zur Korruptionsbekämpfung verfasste Länderbericht Phase 4 über die Schweiz enthält eine Evaluation sowie Empfehlungen zur Umsetzung des Übereinkommens der OECD über die Bekämpfung der Bestechung ausländischer Amtsträger durch die Schweiz im internationalen Geschäftsverkehr. In der Phase 4 werden die besonderen Schwierigkeiten der Staaten bei der Verfolgung der Straftat der grenzüberschreitenden Bestechung...
15 / 09 / 2020
Press release
Öffentliche Unternehmen: Risiken für den Staat reduzieren
Eine verstärkte Aufsicht ist für eine bessere Risikoabdeckung bei der Führung öffentlicher Unternehmen unerlässlich, so die Botschaft der Finanzkontrollen der Kantone und des Bundes. An ihrer Jahreskonferenz machten sie deutlich, welche Risiken die Governance-Richtlinien und die Steuerungsinstrumente der Regierungen bergen.
24 / 03 / 2020
Press release
Swiss Federal Audit Office reorients its audit activities to support Federal Administration
Due to the spread of the new coronavirus in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has suspended a large proportion of its audits in the field and discontinued its publications. It is reorienting its audit approach and using decentralised teams to monitor the measures foreseen by the Federal Council. Last week, the SFAO complied...
29 / 01 / 2020
Press release
Swiss Federal Audit Office’s priorities for 2020
The Finance Delegation and the Federal Council have acknowledged the 2020 annual programme of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). This programme is drawn up completely independently by the SFAO, and is the result of a risk analysis spanning the entire scope of its portfolio, without exception. In 2020, the SFAO will work on around...
16 / 01 / 2019
Press release
Swiss Federal Audit Office’s priorities for 2019
The Finance Delegation of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council have acknowledged the 2019 annual programme of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). This programme is drawn up independently. It covers major financial and reputational risks in the supervision area. In 2019, SFAO employees will work on more than 160 audits. Thanks to its...
24 / 05 / 2018
Press release
Audit of the 2017 state financial statements of the Swiss Confederation
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has completed its audit of the 2017 state financial statements of the Confederation. It presented its report to the parliamentary finance commissions. The SFAO recommends that Parliament approves the 2017 state financial statements of the Confederation. The Confederation’s supreme financial supervisory body expresses two reservations, however. The SFAO’s first...
23 / 02 / 2018
Press release
The SFAO has doubts as to the lawfulness of a provision of CHF 2 billion
After being informed by the Federal Administration on 23 January 2018, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) briefly examined the idea of forming a provision of CHF 2 billion charged to the Confederation’s financing statement 2017. An initial review of this transaction shows that it responds to a clear political desire on the part of...
17 / 01 / 2018
Press release
Swiss Federal Audit Office’s priorities for 2018
The Federal Council has taken note of the annual programme of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) for 2018. This programme is drawn up completely independently. It reflects a strategic focus on auditing complex items in the field. It also covers major financial and reputational risks for both the Confederation and our country’s taxpayers. In...
13 / 12 / 2017
Press release
The Swiss Federal Audit Office celebrates 140 years
More than 150 people met on Wednesday at the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). In addition to Federal Councillors Ueli Maurer and Ignazio Cassis, various other members of parliament were also present. Director of the SFAO, Michel Huissoud, highlighted the growing interest in...
05 / 10 / 2017
Press release
Federal accounts are well kept, but there are some risks
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) confirmed the compliance of the 2016 federal financial statements and recommended their approval to Parliament. For the SFAO’s auditors, the federal accounts are well kept. Nevertheless, several dos-siers may have an impact on them. Published today, the detailed audit report on the Confederation’s state financial statements is the result...
08 / 06 / 2017
Press release
Neue gesicherte Whistleblowing-Plattform für die Bundesverwaltung
Die Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle (EFK) ist die offizielle Anlaufstelle für Whistleblowerinnen und Whistleblower in der Bundesverwaltung. Nach sechs Jahren Erfahrung richtet die EFK eine neue Online-Plattform ein. Ihr Ziel: Den Bundesangestellten, Zulieferern, Steuerzahlenden und allen, denen die Verbesserung der Effizienz in der Bundesverwaltung und die Bekämpfung von Betrug und Korruption ein Anliegen sind, die Möglichkeit geben,...
09 / 02 / 2017
Press release
Quality of Federal Council dispatches satisfactory overall
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined 50 Federal Council dispatches from between 2007 and 2014. The aim was to assess the quality of the forecasts contained in these documents. What impact will a new law have on the environment, on society, on the economy, on the cantons or on federal finances? The assessment gives...
25 / 01 / 2017
Press release
SFAO priorities for 2017
The Finance Delegation, the Control Committees and the Federal Council have acknowledged the 2017 annual programme of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). The SFAO defines its programme independently. It contains approximately 170 audits, and around 70 of those will be published, like last year. The SFAO is thus continuing its efforts to ensure transparency....