December 8, 2021

Insights into the Swiss regulatory landscape

With the implementetion of the FINSA and FINIA ("FIDLEG" and "FINIG"), Switzerland has introduced new rules for the work of financial service providers and financial institutions. Compared to the previous situation, some relevant new requirements apply for financial institutions.Financial institutions, like independent portfolio managers and trustees, are now required to submit an application to an Supervisory Organization (SO) and once approved, to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, which then will grant a license for said activities. Without this license, portfolio managers and trustees are no longer allowed to operate in Switzerland as of 2023, therefore the licensing process must be initiated latest in 2022.Once the licence has been granted, a financial institution must ensure it has in place effective compliance and risk management system. However, the financial institution does not necessarily have to take care of compliance and risk management tasks itself – it can also appoint an external qualified firm for this purpose. With the new rules, financial institutions mustt also be subjected to an ombudsman's office (recognized by the Federal Department of Finance) that mediates between customers and the financial institutions if conflicts arise.We hope this clarifies some issues with regard to the regulatory changes! LEXPERT partners will continue provide further information about the regulations and its implications here – stay tuned!

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