Regulatory

On 13 February 2013 the Federal Council resolved to bring into force the revised Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) and its implementing Ordinance (CISO) as per 1 March 2013. The revised law has substantial impacts on the Swiss investment funds industry. Due to the altered regulatory concepts in terms of asset management regulation and distribution,…

On 3 March 2013, Swiss citizens will vote on a constitutional initiative against excessive compensation. Pursuant to this initiative, shareholders of listed Swiss stock companies would have a binding vote on board and management compensation. Furthermore, severance payments and advance compensation of the board and the management of such companies would be banned.

In a recent decision of 30 October 2012, the Swiss Supreme Court held that banks are, as a matter of principle, obliged to account to their clients for inducements and trailer fees they received in connection with portfolio management agreements. Moreover, in the wake of this decision, FINMA issued guidance to all banks requiring them to inform all…

The legislator gave FINMA powerful tools to enforce its interpretation of the financial market acts against regulated companies and individuals. Practitioners noticed that FINMA has been intensifying the use of such tools recently. At the same time FINMA’s willingness to settle disputes diminished. This article discusses from a practitioner’s viewpoint the rules FINMA has to follow during enforcement procedures…

When assessing the turbulence on the financial markets of the last few years, one of the main outcomes for investors was a heightened awareness of cash and security arrangements. In particular, it has become en vogue among asset owners to ask their custodians to segregate client assets from the custodians’ proprietary assets. While asset segregation…

The main purpose of the proposed revision of the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) is to adjust the Swiss regulatory framework to current international standards, especially the UCITS- and AIFM-Directive, in order to enable Swiss based assets managers to access the European market. The draft legislation provides for a general authorization and supervision requirement for…

Based on articles 28 (2) and 34 (3) of the Banking Act, as amended (BA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has opened on 16 January 2012 a consultation, which has come to an end on 2 March 2012, on the complete revision of the FINMA Bank Bankruptcy Ordinance (BBO-FINMA). More precisely, the BBO-FINMA…

Against the background of new regulatory developments in the European Union, Parliament will shortly debate a partial revision of the Collective Investment Schemes Act. The proposed legislative amendments focus on subjecting Swiss domiciled asset managers of foreign collective investment schemes to Swiss licensing and supervision requirements and introducing a new concept with respect to the…

The Federal Department of Finance recently published different proposals with respect to new rules on capital adequacy for Swiss banks, including detailed provisions aimed at mitigating the too-big-to-fail conundrum. The suggested changes strive to raise both the quality and quantity of the regulatory capital base and enhance the risk coverage of the capital framework. Whereas…