Suchergebnisse für Anlegerschutz

Editorial

Am 30. August 2023 fand die 15. Tagung «Quo Vadis – Finanzplatz Schweiz?» unter der Leitung von Rolf Sethe und Christoph B. Bühler statt.

Bonus als Risiko – Zur Regulierung der variablen Vergütung von Bankorganen

The experience with the Credit Suisse crisis of confidence has once again shown that compensation systems are of considerable importance for the risk management of financial institutions. Inappropriate risks and wrong incentives can endanger the substance and profitability of a bank and thus its stability. This article focuses on the regulation of variable compensation of bank boards and analyzes…

Bail-in-Bonds

Following the financial crisis of 2007/08, the bail-in has established itself as the preferred resolution strategy for large banks throughout Switzerland and internationally. According to the concept, it is not the bank’s owners or the state that are to finance a resolution but the bank’s creditors. This is to be achieved by converting a certain type of debt called «bail-in-bonds» into equity…

Schutz der Kundenvermögen durch Segregation

Swiss financial market law contains various provisions that serve to protect client assets by means of segregation. With regard to the custody of intermediated securities, a revision entered into force on 1 January 2023: Art. 11a of the Federal Act on Intermediated Securities (FISA) now stipulates an obligation for custodians to hold their own securities and those of their account holders in…

Verfügt die FINMA über genügend wirksame und scharfe Instrumente gegen (höchste) Bankmanager?

In March 2023, Crédit Suisse (CS) had to be taken over by UBS. It was the first global systemically important bank to face imminent resolution since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Unlike UBS in 2008, CS remained well capitalized until the end. But clients had lost confidence in the bank’s management. This led to a bank run and thus to the bank’s demise. The ongoing crisis of specialist and…

Das Finanzmarktaufsichtsrecht vom vierten Quartal 2022 bis ins vierte Quartal 2023

Ob gross oder klein, vor den Marktkräften sind sie alle gleich! Auch die ganz Grossen – «global systemically important financial institutions» (G-SIFIs)¹ – können straucheln, mit viel Getöse,…

Börsenrechtliche Meldepflicht nach Art. 120 FinfraG bei kollektiven Kapitalanlagen

Die Gesellschaft A. (Gesuchstellerin, Beschwerdeführerin 1) mit Sitz in den USA und ihre Tochtergesellschaften sind in der Vermögensverwaltung sowie in der Schaffung und im Vertrieb von kollektiven…

Berücksichtigung von ESG-Präferenzen im Finanzdienstleistungs­geschäft

On 1 January 2023, the Swiss Bankers Association’s «Guidelines for the financial service providers on the integration of ESG-preferences and ESG-risks into investment advice and portfolio management» entered into force. This marks the first binding Swiss (self-)regulation on Sustainable Finance at the point of sale. One of the key amendments includes the financial service providers’ duty to…

Sicherung von strukturierten Produkten nach Art. 70 Abs. 2 FIDLEG

The Financial Services Act (FinSA) is a cross-sectoral regulation but still contains certain historically grown sector-specific provisions. Pursuant to Art. 70 FinSA, offers of structured products to private clients must fulfill regulatory requirements regarding issuer, offeror and collateralization. Particularly, the collateralization of structured products issued by SPVs pursuant to Art. 70 para…

Editorial

Am 1. September 2022 fand die 14. Tagung «Quo Vadis – Finanzplatz Schweiz?» unter der Leitung von Rolf Sethe und Christoph B. Bühler statt.

Das Finanzmarktaufsichtsrecht vom vierten Quartal 2021 bis ins vierte Quartal 2022

Ohne Vertrauen keine funktionsfähige Gemeinschaft! Was für Staat und Gesellschaft gilt, gilt auch für Unternehmen und deren Mitarbeitende auf allen Stufen. Das unternehmensinterne Kontrollumfeld trägt diesem Umstand Rechnung, was sich in einer angemessenen Breite und Tiefe der Kontrollen ausdrücken muss, ohne die Mitarbeitenden auf Schritt und Tritt zu überwachen. Die Enttäuschung von…

Vergütung der Rechenschaft über Retrozessionen

Based on Art. 400 para. 1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, financial service providers must inform their clients if they receive payments or other benefits from third parties in connection with their client-related services (so-called inducements, kickbacks, or retrocessions). This article analyzes to what extent and under which conditions financial service providers can charge additional fees…

Open Finance und Decentralized Finance – Entwicklungen in einem disruptiven Finanzmarktumfeld

The recent technological developments not only impact society in general but they also strongly influence financial markets, even in a disruptive way. Open finance and decentralized finance cause an opening of the financial ecosystem and challenge existing notions; for example, new concepts are needed for the regulation of data access/portability and of digital identity as well as for the…

Editorial

Am 31. August 2021 fand die 13. Tagung «Quo Vadis – Finanzplatz Schweiz?» unter der Leitung von Rolf Sethe und Christoph B. Bühler statt.

EU-Product-Governance – Ein Vorbild für die Schweiz?

In 2020 the Financial Services Act (FinSA) entered into force. The provisions on rules of conduct and organizational duties are more or less based on the provisions of MiFID II. However, the regulatory complex on product governance has not been adopted by the Swiss legislator. This article examines whether this decision was convincing. As a result, it turns out to be wise, because the EU-product…

Der Limited Qualified Investor Fund (L-QIF) – Ein neuer Stern am Schweizer Fondshimmel?

The Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat) recently submitted a bill to Parliament to amend the Collective Investment Schemes Act in order to introduce a new Swiss fund category – the Limited Qualified Investment Fund (L-QIF). Inspired by Luxembourg’s Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF), the L-QIF, other than the existing Swiss fund products, shall be exempt from FINMA approval and supervision…

DLT-basierte Finanzprodukte

DLT-based financial products are digitally created assets that can be transferred and stored on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) infrastructure. Internationally, such digitally stored «tokens» are mostly referred to as «crypto assets»; however, there is still a lack of recognized, clear and internationally uniform definitions. Parallel to the spread of crypto assets being treated according…

Grüne Finanzprodukte

For environmentally sustainable financial products to be recognized by market participants, sufficient information about their environmental risks and impacts must be available. However, without regulatory measures, there are insufficient incentives for product providers to disclose the relevant information. The market is unable to correct these information deficits itself. The regulatory vacuum…

Nichtfinanzielle Berichterstattung nach dem Gegenvorschlag zur Konzernverantwortungsinitiative und ihre Bedeutung für den Finanzsektor

The financial market and its players play a key role in the pursuit of a sustainable economic system. If capital flows are specifically directed toward sustainable products and services, financial market participants can make a significant contribution to a resource-efficient economy. A key prerequisite for the regulatory control of the achievement of sustainability goals is the reporting of…

Informationspflichten bei der Kapitalanlage – von einzelfallbezogenen und von allgemein gehaltenen Informationen

When it comes to information obligations of financial service providers, the distinction between case-by-case information and generic information is of fundamental importance. While generic information obligations are typically fulfilled by publishing a brochure online and therefore hardly bring any benefit for investors, case-by-case information obligations usually lead to an improved…

Die Praxis des Jahres 2020 im Übernahmerecht

Dieser Beitrag bespricht die Praxis der Übernahmekommission (UEK) des Jahres 2020. Die UEK erliess im Rahmen von 8 Verfahren insgesamt 10 Verfügungen.

Prospektrechtliche Gleichbehandlungspflicht bei Ausnahmen von der Prospektpflicht

In the absence of a duty to publish a prospectus, art. 39 of the Swiss Financial Services Act (FinSA) obliges offerors and issuers to treat investors equally when providing them with material information on a public offer of securities. This provision is applicable in cases in which securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a trading platform if the obligation to publish a…

Angemessenheits- und Eignungsprüfung nach FIDLEG

On 1 January 2020 the Financial Services Act (FinSA) entered into force. Depending on the service offered the new supervisory law obliges investment advisors and portfolio managers to conduct an appropriateness test or a suitability test. This article evaluates the new regime and compares it with the relevant contractual duties and the provisions of the European supervisory law.

Dokumentenherausgabe nach FIDLEG vs. datenschutzrechtliche Auskunftserteilung

The claim for disclosure according to FinSA is supposed to enable the customer to obtain evidence to effectively enforce his or her rights from the contractual relationship with the financial service provider. The right to request information according to FADP is meant to enable the data subject to control his or her personal data and thus to protect and enforce his or her personal rights…

Selektives opting-up und die öffentliche Angebotspflicht

Die MCH Group AG (die «MCH Group») ist eine Aktiengesellschaft mit Sitz in Basel, deren Aktien an der SIX Swiss Exchange (die «SIX») kotiert sind. Die MCH Group bezweckt in erster Linie den Erwerb, die Veräusserung und die Verwaltung von Beteiligungen und die Finanzierung von in- und ausländischen Unternehmen des Messe- und Kongressbereiches und verwandter Geschäftszweige sowie die Überwachung…

Praktische Problemfelder und Lösungsansätze in Bezug auf die «FinTech»-Bewilligungsvoraussetzungen von Art. 1b BankG

The piece at hand addresses in depth the FinTech license according to art. 1b of the Swiss Banking Act (BA) that is in force since January 1^st 2019. The FinTech license provides for a new category of a regulatory status for FinTech institutions that do not offer typical banking activities, but whose business touches certain elements of banking. It aims to foster innovation in the financial market…

Schutzzweck der Inhaltskontrolle von allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen

This article examines the reason for and justification of controlling the content of general terms and conditions by the legislator and the courts. Based on various individual and institutional protection concepts, it analyzes what the purpose of such content control can and actually should be. This contribution uses a legal theo­ry and law and economics research approach. The results of the…

Editorial

Am 28. August 2019 fand die 11. Tagung «Quo Vadis – Finanzplatz Schweiz?» unter einem neuen leitenden Team, bestehend aus Rolf Sethe und Christoph B. ­Bühler, statt. Sie haben übernommen von Peter…

Stärkung der Ombudsstelle

With the coming into force of the Financial Services Act (FinSA) and the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), the ombudsman will be strengthened by being regulated by law and by obliging the financial…

Die (neuen) Pflichten im Execution-only-Geschäft: Zusammenspiel von FIDLEG und OR

As a part of the new financial markets architecture, the Financial Services Act (FinSA) entered into force on 1 January 2020. It introduces unified rules for offering financial services and…

Grenzüberschreitendes Angebot von Finanzdienstleistungen und -produkten? Die Eidgenossenschaft schlägt zurück

Until recently, Switzerland applied a strict territorial approach to regulating financial services with a handful of a notable exceptions. After facing protectionist movements from other…

Licht und Schatten der geplanten Reform der Einlagensicherung

The Swiss deposit insurance scheme is currently under review. In spring 2019, the Federal Council proposed a reform of the existing scheme and conducted a public consultation. In their comments, the…

Was ist «wirtschafts-verträgliches» Aktienrecht?

The last comprehensive overhaul of Swiss corporation law dates from 1991. The revised law was intended to provide more transparency, improve shareholder rights and set goalposts with respect to corporate organization and corporate powers. But the 1991 corporation law fell short of international standards, especially for listed companies. Numerous pieces of legislation and self-regulatory…

Transparenz von Aktionärbindungsverträgen und Gesellschafte­r­bindungsverträgen in Kapitalgesellschaften

A shareholders’ or members’ agreement is a contract concluded by some or all shareholders or members of a company, eventually with the involvement of the company itself, in order to arrange their legal position complementary to or differing from the relevant company law framework. Although dogmatically diverging, the contractual provisions and company law norms often form a unity. However,…

Crowdinvesting mittels Initial Coin Offering – Regulierungsaufgaben im -Token-Universum

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are a phenomenon with similar characteristics as the cryptocurrency boom. Projects that typically have no history of producing a product or revenue raise capital by issuing their own tokens to investors. Therefore, the Federal Council adopted in December 2018 a report on the legal framework for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial…

Fortress Europe: Die Äquivalenzverfahren der EU im Bereich der Finanzdienstleistungen

The European Union is by far the most important ­market for Swiss cross-border financial services. So far, the key strategy for market access has been to tailor Swiss financial regulation so as to achieve equivalence with EU law. However, the analysis of the current equivalence procedures reveals that equivalence is not the door opener one had hoped for. Core activities such as deposit-taking,…

Die Pflichten der Finanzdienstleister im Anlagegeschäft – Ein Ausblick auf die künftigen Bestimmungen des FIDLEG

A. (nachfolgend Beschwerdeführer) eröffnete am 14. Dezember 2006 ein Konto und ein Depot bei der Bank B. AG (nachfolgend Beschwerdegegnerin) und unterhielt die Bankenkundenbeziehung bis im Jahr 2015…

Editorial

FIDLEG, FINIG, Anlegerschutz, Kundenberatung und internationale Harmonisierung sind gewichtige Kern­themen der neueren Finanzmarktregulierung. Die Eidgenössischen Räte haben die beiden neuen…

Das FIDLEG-Prospektrecht ante portas – Guter Anlegerschutz?

The new Financial Services Act (FinSA) will introduce Switzerland’s first comprehensive prospectus regime. While conceptually modeled after the European Union’s Prospectus Directive and its recent replacement, the Prospectus Regulation, the new Swiss prospectus regime employs traditional Swiss legislation techniques and, constructively, abstains from specifically regulating every detail. The…

Transaktionsbezogene vs. portfoliobezogene Anlageberatung unter FIDLEG: keine einfache Abgrenzung

With the entry into force of the Financial Services Act (FinSA) on 1 January 2020 the transaction-related ­investment advice will be introduced as a new category of investment advice to be distinguished from the portfolio-related investment advice. The correct differentiation between the two types of investment recommendations is crucial to determine the scope of application of the suitability…

Dienstleisterketten beim Erbringen von Finanzdienstleistungen: ­Aufsichtsrechtliche Erfassung durch das FIDLEG und vertragsrechtliche ­Haftung der Depotbank

On June 15, 2018 the Parliament passed the new Financial Services Act (FinSA) which presumably will enter into force by the beginning of 2020. The FinSA states new regulatory conduct rules that will apply to financial services providers vis-à-vis their clients. In cases where several financial services providers are involved in the provision of a financial service, the question arises of who has…

Compliance-Anforderungen für Schweizer Asset Manager alternativer ­Investmentfonds

The European Directive 2011/61/EU (AIFMD) was a reaction of the European legislator to the financial ­crisis of 2007/2008. The Directive aims to provide for a harmonized and stringent regulatory and supervisory framework for the activities within the EU of all Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM). Due to its fund manager focused approach, AIFMD imposes authorization requirements and…

Ursachen der Finanzkrise und seitherige Regulierungsentwicklung

A number of causes have triggered the crisis such as subprime mortgage loans in the US, the lack of regulation of derivatives and also remuneration systems which set wrong incentives. The crisis lead to the abolishment of the banking secrecy at the international level. It was replaced by the automatic exchange of information in tax matters which is now the standard. The crisis initiated the…

Ist die neue Finanzmarkt­regulierung funktionsfähig?

The article describes the causes of financial market crises. It assesses the advantages and disadvantages of the legislative measures taken since the crisis of 2007/­2008. Finally, it outlines what additional or alternative measures could be taken to increase the stability of the financial markets and to improve supervision.

Bankgeschäfte nach der Krise: Safer, simpler, fairer?

Ten years after the global financial crisis, the Financial Stability Board reports that regulation has built a «safer, simpler and fairer financial system». While there are indeed notable improvements in the regulatory architecture, the question remains whether banking, as seen from a retail customer perspective, has become safer, simpler, and fairer. This article argues that, overall, retail…

Führen die neuen Technologien zur Disruption der Finanzmarktregulierung?

Technological developments and respective changes in business models require adaptations of the financial regulations. The need to adopt risk-oriented rules has become apparent already some time ago. Recently, regulators acknowledged the desirability of introducing innovation-supporting rules (for FinTech enterprises). The most disruptive effects, however, come from the new distributed ledger…

Das Finanzmarktauf­sichtsrecht vom vierten Quartal 2017 bis ins vierte Quartal 2018

Seit die Marktteilnehmer aus regulatorischen Gründen oder eigenem Antrieb vermehrt mit regulierten Gegenparteien zusammenarbeiten wollen, gelten finanzmarktaufsichtsrechtliche Bewilligungspflichten nicht nur als Bürde, sondern auch als «Würde». Als schwerer Eingriff in die verfassungsmässig geschützte Wirtschaftsfreiheit bedürfen Bewilligungspflichten einer Grundlage in einem formellen Gesetz.

Die Bewilligungs- und Prospektpflicht im schweizerischen Recht anhand des Crowdfundings

Mit Verfügung vom 4. Juni 2015 stellte die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht (nachfolgend FINMA) fest, dass die A. AG (nachfolgend Beschwerdeführerin 1) durch die Bewerbung und Ausgabe des Produkts …

Wie die Arbeit, so der Lohn – Vergütung in privaten und kotierten Gesellschaften

Rising executive pay is a vital topic for shareholders, proxy advisors, academics and the wider public. It is worth noting that the remuneration of auditors for their audit services has hardly attracted shareholder attention even though falling audit fees may be a reason for weaknesses in corporate control. In this perspective it looks like an anomaly that the remuneration of the party…

Zum Anbieten kollektiver Kapitalanlagen unter dem FIDLEG – und ausgewählte Aspekte der dabei einzuhaltenden Verhaltenspflichten

The regulatory framework for the distribution of collective investment schemes (CIS) in (and from) Switzerland is currently set forth in one single act, the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA). The CISA sets out the product level requirements for CIS distributed in or from Switzerland, the requirements for persons distributing CIS, and the point of sale duties of such persons. As part of the…