This year saw Swiss lawmakers pass two important pieces of legislation - FinSA & FinIA. Meant to make financial intermediaries’ services more competitive & boost protection of customers, the laws also put in place rules for providers of financial services, standardise licensing requirements & ensure consistency in the oversight of financial activities.
If you’re looking for information on financial services regulation in Switzerland or planning on obtaining a financial services license in Switzerland, this article will certainly come in handy for you.
What’s New?
With the adoption of FinSA, a whole new set of rules for financial services providers has been introduced. Provision of financial services in Switzerland used to be governed by the existing EU regulations. However, Swiss lawmakers have introduced some major amendments to them, making them more compliant with Swiss standards.
According to the amendments, Swiss customers are now divided into different categories, such as:
- private;
- professional;
- institutional.
FinSA introduces new criteria for the prospectus. In accordance with them, a basic fact sheet must now be drafted if certain conditions arise.
Conducting IPO in Switzerland
Under amended legislation, a requirement for the conduct of preliminary examination or review of prospectuses is introduced.
From now on, stock exchanges are required to check prospectuses for accuracy, consistency & understandability. Issuers must obtain approval for their prospectus from 1 or 2 regulators before they come up with an offer to buy securities.
Under the new laws, managers of assets are now divided into several categories, such as:
- those working with individual clients;
- those working with pension funds;
Registration of a Fintech Company in Switzerland
It is legally permitted to provide financial services in Switzerland with the use of modern technology. Hence, the new legislation may be applicable to entities engaged in the provision of financial e-products & services in Switzerland. When it comes to DLT * blockchain, there’s a number of important considerations that need to be taken into account, namely:
- the current status of payment tokens;
- whether tokens can be used as financial instruments;
- which rules apply to investment tokens.
IQ Decision UK will be continuing to provide you with the updates on the financial market of Switzerland. If you need more information on the topic of the article or are seeking legal advice on the regulation of financial companies in Switzerland, do not hesitate to contact us.
