Regulatory

The new Swiss financial market regulation will take effect in the second half of 2019 or in 2020. The new acts, namely the Financial Services Act and the Financial Institutions Act are particularly relevant to external asset managers of pension funds and investment foundations. The pension funds and investment foundations themselves will not be directly…

While the concept of organized trading facilities has been introduced into Swiss law more than one and a half year ago, many of the rules applying to organized trading facilities will only be phased in by the beginning of 2018. Similarly, the Swiss regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, has only recently published…

On 6 July 2017, the Financial Stability Board published its guiding principles on the loss-absorbing resources to be committed to subsidiaries or sub-groups that are located in host jurisdictions and deemed material for the resolution of a G-SIB as a whole (iTLAC). The guiding principles support the implementation of the iTLAC requirement in each host…

On 1 November 2016, FINMA published the revised circulars 2008/21 on “Operational risks – banks” and 2010/1 on “Remuneration schemes” which both have been revised in the context of the new FINMA circular 2017/1 “Corporate governance – banks”. The most significant changes pertain to i) the adoption of minimum requirements for the regulation of IT…

Most Swiss financial service providers have been aware of, and have been preparing for, the effect the new EU regulation on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products or “PRIIPs” will have on the offering of structured products and other complex financial products. However, recent attention in connection with the medium term…

In response to the growing trend of sustainability reporting as an additional component of annual reporting, the Regulatory Board of the SIX Swiss Exchange has decided to issue new regulations regarding sustainability reporting. In addition, new disclosure rules have been adapted for publicly disclosed buyback programmes, redemption of own units by real estate funds and…

On 1 November 2016, FINMA published its new circular 2017/1 on “Corporate governance – banks” streamlining the regulatory framework on corporate governance for banks, securities dealers, financial groups and conglomerates by defining partially revised minimum requirements and underlying principles. The new circular consolidates and replaces three former FINMA circulars and addresses the experiences made in…

On 16 March 2017, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (FINMA) released final rules on stay recognition clauses in financial contracts that are governed by non-Swiss law and/or subject to the jurisdiction of non-Swiss courts. The new rules are set out in an amendment to the Ordinance of FINMA on the Insolvency of Banks and…

This paper intents to outline the purpose and scope of article 55 of the European Bank Resolution and Recovery Directive, to present, as an example, the Bail-In Recognition Clause suggested by the Loan Market Association, and to discuss the legal nature of such a clause in a Swiss law governed agreement or document. By Rashid…