Swiss Regulator Warns EAMs, Trustees On Licensing Applications

Tom Burroughes

12 August 2022

The (FINMA) has warned that trustees and managers that haven’t submitted a licence application to a supervisory organisation (SO) by the 30 June deadline may not be granted an extension to get applications in.

Yesterday, FINMA announced new guidance for managers and trustees on how new licensing and regulatory reforms are proceeding. Switzerland’s new regulatory framework for external asset managers and trustees is one of the most significant changes to these sectors in decades. (See here and here for articles on the matter.)

The regulator had recommended that all institutions submit their complete licence application to a supervisory organisation (SO) by 30 June this year.

“Institutions that haven’t yet submitted their application to an SO must accept that they may miss the end of the transitional period through their own fault. As a consequence, these institutions will generally not be entitled to any deadline extension,” the watchdog said.

FINMA said it has already conducted various investigations and several charges have been filed on grounds of unauthorised activities, it said.

The regulator imposes sanctions for breaches of financial market law and will “also do so in the case of portfolio managers and trustees who miss the end of the transitional period on 31 December 2022," it said.

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