The ongoing digitization of the financial services markets and the near ubiquitous availability of smartphones and mobile broadband internet resulted in a rise of digital-only financial service providers over the recent years. Unlike their more traditional “brick and mortar” competitors, these new financial service providers offer their services almost exclusively through digital channels and at significantly lower costs, making financial services, in particular securities trading, available to a broad base of retail investors. Combine this phenomenon with social media features, such as influencers, and the result is social trading. In this article, we take a closer look at the Swiss financial market regulatory aspects of social trading.

By Patrick Schärli / Patrick Schleiffer (Reference: CapLaw-2021-15)