ZURICH, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The head of Switzerland's

financial market regulator (FINMA) said on Tuesday his watchdog

needed to be granted greater powers to oversee banks, speaking

as the country works to make its financial system more robust.

FINMA boss Stefan Walter took over at FINMA in April, a year

after the collapse of Credit Suisse sent shockwaves through the

Swiss banking sector, leading to its acquisition by rival UBS.

Walter addressed FINMA's powers while speaking in Zurich,

where he noted he had previously worked at the U.S. Federal

Reserve and the European Central Bank prior to his current role.

"I was at the Fed, I was at the ECB and when I came here, I

looked at the toolboxes and saw that I didn't have as many great

tools as before," Walter said at an event.

Swiss financial authorities including FINMA took flak for

failing to prevent the implosion of Credit Suisse and officials

have since argued that the regulator needed to be strengthened.

In April, the government set out measures aimed at heading

off the risk of a crisis at UBS or other systemically relevant

banks, including a stronger FINMA. Those proposals are due to be

debated by parliament in coming months.

The FINMA boss, who did not mention UBS during the event,

emphasised the possibility of direct controls at a bank, noting

that "in-depth on-site controls are standard practice among the

world's most important supervisory authorities."

Walter said although that option existed in Switzerland,

regulators' scope to make use of it is limited.

"With the removal of this legal hurdle, the supervisory

authority can itself carry out more in-depth controls where it

considers the risks to be too high. Even if there is not yet an

obvious fire hazard," said Walter.