Regulatory

The Swiss financial market laws provide for a number of regulatory notification and approval requirements which must be adhered to in the context of asset deals involving entities prudentially supervised by FINMA. This article provides an overview of the relevant regulatory requirements which may be applicable in the context of acquiring a portfolio of assets,…

Digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and tokenized „traditional“ financial assets, are playing an increasingly significant role in financial markets. While the Swiss Bankers Association’s Portfolio Management Guidelines (Guidelines) remain a key reference standard for discretionary asset management, they were developed without consideration for these emerging investment options, raising questions about their compatibility with the framework. This…

The draft changes proposed in the consultation on the amendment to the Financial Market Infrastructure Act seek to introduce wide-ranging information duties towards the Disclosure Office or FINMA. The nemo tenetur principle and other basic principles of the rule of law, however, warrant specific limits. By Benjamin Leisinger / Reto Ferrari-Visca (Reference: CapLaw-2024-84)

The Swiss financial market laws provide for a number of regulatory notification and approval requirements which must be adhered to in the context of M&A deals involving entities prudentially supervised by FINMA. This article provides an overview of the relevant regulatory requirements applicable to an acquisition of a qualified participation in a Swiss regulated financial…

This article analyses the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s recent case law on the requirements for a valid retrocession waiver clause in execution-only relationships and discusses FINMA’s draft circular on rules of conduct under FinSA/FinSO in this context.  By Stephanie Walter (Reference: CapLaw-2024-62)

The recently published draft amendment to the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (D-FinMIA) contains a number of changes and, it is fair to say, some surprises at the level of financial market infrastructures and their users.  When the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA) was passed in 2014 it was already determined that the Federal Department of…

On 1 March 2024, the revised Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) and its implementing ordinance (CISO) came into effect. The key element of the revised CISA is to allow under Swiss law the long awaited possibility to launch, under certain conditions, collective investment schemes for qualified investors in the form of a so-called Limited Qualified…

On 1 February 2024, a new criminal offence was introduced in Switzerland’s public takeover law. According to the new criminal offence, anyone who willfully provides untrue or incomplete information in the offering prospectus or the announcement of a public takeover offer can be penalized with a fine of up to CHF 500,000. If the offender…

The Swiss financial market, renowned for its robust regulatory environment and attractiveness to global investors, presents unique challenges and opportunities for foreign collective investment schemes. This article seeks to demystify the legal intricacies involved in advertising these schemes to Swiss investors, focusing particularly on the stringent requirements set forth by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory…