Securities

On 10 September 2018, the SIX Exchange Regulation Ltd. published its revised Circular No. 3 that includes rules on the eligibility of certain crypto assets (crypto currencies) as underlyings of derivatives listed at SIX. By Benjamin Leisinger (Reference: CapLaw-2018-42)

Trading in tokens is currently in the spotlight of the public’s and the regulator’s attention. Based on distributed ledgers-technology, blockchain technology is used to issue tokens as tradable digital units and to record ownership and transactions of the issued tokens. At present, there are no specific laws and little regulation applying to trading in tokens…

On 1 January 2018, FINMA’s new circular 2018/2 on the reporting of securities transactions (“FINMA Circular 18/2”) entered into effect. The purpose of FINMA Circular 18/2 is to implement the reporting obligations set out in the Swiss Financial Market Infrastructure Act (“FMIA”) and to further regulate technical aspects of the reporting obligations. Compared to the…

On 1 March 2017, a partial revision of the Ordinance of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority on Financial Market Infrastructures and Market Conduct in Securities and Derivatives Trading (FINMA Financial Market Infrastructure Ordinance, FMIO-FINMA) regarding disclosure of significant shareholdings entered into force. On 3 October 2017, the Disclosure Office of SIX Swiss Exchange (“DO”)…

A bond issued by a foreign resident issuer but guaranteed by its Swiss resident parent company is reclassified as a domestic issuance and subject to 35 percent withholding tax if the proceeds raised under such bond are used in Switzerland. According to new rules which entered into force on 1 April 2017, it is possible…

“The transnational nature of collateral goes beyond the mere (but important) fact that the parties to a swap are often incorporated in different jurisdictions. Collateral may be posted in different currencies, or in the form of government bonds issued by different governments. The collateral is held with intermediaries often incorporated in yet other jurisdictions, with…

On 1 April 2017, the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of Securities held with an Intermediary entered into force. The entry into force of the Convention coincides with renewed efforts by the European Commission at modernising the conflicts rules for the third-party effects of transactions in book-entry securities and…

The new Market in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) will introduce a share trading obligation which requires EU investment firms to trade shares on an EU trading venue, an EU systemic internaliser or on an equivalent third country exchange only. Should the Swiss legal framework not be considered equivalent to the EU regulation as of the…