BERN, April 8 (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial market

regulator FINMA said on Tuesday it sees no liquidity bottlenecks

so far due to market turmoil sparked by the imposition of U.S.

trade tariffs, but that they could happen later.

FINMA CEO Stefan Walter told Reuters that bottlenecks

could occur with a time lag and stressed the importance of

keeping an eye on so-called non-bank financial institutions,

which include hedge funds, private equity funds and credit

funds.

The regulator is monitoring events very closely,

liaising with partner authorities and supervised institutions,

including systemically important banks like UBS, Walter

said.

Presenting its latest annual report, FINMA said it

carried out 45 on-site reviews of UBS in 2024 as the bank

integrates its old rival Credit Suisse, which collapsed in 2023.

Walter refused to specify how much time UBS could be given

to fulfil stricter new capital requirements the Swiss government

is expected to propose in early June.

He welcomed that UBS's strategy included limiting the size

of its Investment Bank, but said risks could occur in other

areas too.

FINMA said it would make greater use of its discretionary

powers in future after it identified a number of serious

shortcomings in Switzerland's financial sector in 2024, notably

in the areas of money laundering and mortgage lending.

"We want to be even more effective," Walter said, calling

for a clear legal basis for early intervention and powers to

more actively communicate and levy fines.