Funds, banking & securities

The sandbox is a conditional exception for accepting up to CHF 1 million in public deposits, with restrictions on the interest-rate-differential business and advance disclosures about supervision and deposit protection. A FinTech license is an authorization with its own operating requirements. The sandbox does not remove applicable AML duties or permissions for other activities.

The investment vehicle and its operator are separate regulatory questions. Many Swiss collective investment schemes need product approval, while their managers and other providers need the appropriate institutional status. The structure must be checked as a whole, including any specific exemption.

A manager of collective assets performs the investment-management role. A fund management company has wider responsibilities for operating and administering contractual funds and can perform other permitted functions. The project should allocate those roles before selecting an authorization category.

A Limited Qualified Investor Fund is a Swiss collective investment scheme reserved for qualified investors that does not require FINMA product approval or direct fund supervision. Its administration and management must follow the statutory rules involving eligible supervised institutions. Reporting and other fund obligations still apply.

Qualification follows the statutory investor categories and any valid opting arrangements, rather than a label chosen in the subscription form. We review eligibility, supporting evidence and distribution plans. The answer affects access to products such as an L-QIF and the applicable investor protections.

A contractual fund is based on a fund contract; a SICAV is a company with variable capital. They differ in legal form, governance and the allocation of administration. Strategy, investors and provider arrangements help determine which structure fits the project.

Swiss contractual funds and SICAVs generally require a custodian bank, subject to applicable exceptions. Other structures need their own analysis. Safekeeping, oversight and cash-flow arrangements should be agreed with suitable providers before the fund documents and launch timetable are finalized.

Delegation can be possible, but it must meet the rules for the particular function and institution. Qualifications, supervision, oversight, access to information and any authority requirements need review. Delegating work does not remove the delegating institution’s own responsibilities.

Foreign ownership or expertise does not remove Swiss requirements. We review the proposed operator, management location, regulated providers and delegation model. Foreign supervision and cooperation between authorities may also matter, depending on the structure and the license sought.

The operator’s role determines its minimum capital and ongoing own-funds calculation. A manager of collective assets and a fund management company have different requirements, and the vehicle may have separate financial conditions. We calculate these alongside provider costs and the launch budget.

Timing depends on the vehicle, investor restrictions, provider appointments and whether product approval or a new institutional license is needed. An L-QIF removes a product-approval step, but does not remove setup work. We give a project-specific schedule once the structure is settled.

The legal categories include professional client dealing and specified own-account, market-making, issuance and derivatives activities. The assessment examines whose name and account are used, the instruments and the trading model. Simply describing the business as a broker does not determine the answer.

A portfolio manager generally exercises investment authority under client mandates. A securities firm can conduct regulated dealing activities under its own authorization. The distinction turns on transaction execution, account relationships and the precise services, not only whether both businesses make investment decisions.

Not automatically. Organized matching, multilateral trading and other infrastructure functions require a separate analysis under financial-market infrastructure rules. We map order entry, execution, custody and settlement to identify the permissions relevant to each part of the platform.

FINMA identifies CHF 1.5 million in fully paid-up minimum capital for a securities-firm license. Applicable own-funds, risk and organizational requirements must also be met. The statutory minimum should therefore be treated as one part of the financial plan.

Securities firms are prudentially supervised by FINMA, with the applicable audit, reporting and organizational obligations. They must maintain their licensing conditions and address material changes. This differs from the supervisory-organization model used for ordinary standalone portfolio managers.

Each is a distinct authorization project. Timing depends on the proposed activities, capital, people, documentation and regulatory review. We separate readiness work from the authority process and identify audit or foreign-supervisor dependencies. No universal approval period applies across these categories.

Its AML obligations generally sit within its FINMA-supervised status rather than a separate AML-only SRO route. Other entities in the group may have different requirements. We check the licensed entity and activity instead of assuming one group-wide supervisory arrangement.

Public deposit-taking can trigger banking regulation. The amount, use of funds, interest arrangements and any statutory exception are central to the analysis. A payments or technology label does not prevent a customer repayment claim from being treated as a deposit.

The existing FinTech framework permits specified deposit-taking up to CHF 100 million, and certain crypto-asset activities, subject to conditions including restrictions on investment and interest. It is not a full banking license. The proposed cash and custody flows must be checked against its exact scope.

A bank’s statutory minimum capital is CHF 10 million. Under the existing FinTech regime, the minimum is generally 3% of accepted public deposits, with a CHF 300,000 floor. Additional requirements and the proposed activity must be assessed before relying on those baseline figures.

The business should monitor the limit and plan its next regulatory step before it is exceeded. Notification and authorization requirements can arise when thresholds are crossed. We assess the growth plan, required application and operational restrictions with the relevant specialists and authority.

Deposits accepted under the FinTech license do not benefit from Swiss deposit insurance in the same way as protected bank deposits. Customer disclosures must reflect the applicable treatment. Safeguarding arrangements and contractual protections need their own careful review.

Potentially, but crypto custody must be assessed on its own facts. Control, segregation, customer claims, asset reuse and insolvency treatment are relevant. A license label alone does not establish that a particular custody or staking product is covered.

Swiss reform proposals include changes to the payments and crypto authorization framework. The project must distinguish proposals from enacted rules and their effective dates. We build the application around applicable law and identify changes that may require a later transition.

A foreign group can pursue a suitable Swiss subsidiary or branch route where the requirements are met. Home supervision, cooperation, group structure and local organization can affect the application. An existing foreign license is relevant evidence, but does not automatically authorize Swiss operations.

We can compare structures, define the regulatory route, prepare agreed legal documents and coordinate application work. The proposal identifies specialist, auditor and provider responsibilities, as well as fees and exclusions. Once licensed, the business must continue meeting its capital, conduct, AML, reporting and organizational duties.