Under current Swiss law, portfolio managers, unless they are acting as asset managers for collective investment schemes, and trustees are not subject to a comprehensive prudential supervision, a situation that will change under the proposed new Financial Institutions Act (“FinIA”). On 14 December 2016, this proposed new act took the first parliamentary hurdle when the Swiss Council of States deliberated and passed the new act. Compared to the draft bill published by the Swiss government in November 2015 (see CapLaw 2016-8), the draft FinIA now passed by the Swiss Council of States includes a number of significant changes to the new supervisory framework applicable to portfolio managers and trustees. Most notably, portfolio managers and trustees will have to apply for a license with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), while the ongoing (day-to-day) prudential supervision of these financial institutions will fall within the responsibility of new private supervisory organizations.

By Patrick Schleiffer / Patrick Schärli (Reference: CapLaw-2017-07)