B-04-29 FINMA Guidance 05/2021

The provision of certain information about a structured product is not sufficient to establish an investment advisory relationship, particularly if the client has in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of investment. In the absence of an advisory relationship, the choice of the issuer of the structured product within the group does not give rise to a conflict of interest (TF 4A_503/2025 of 17 June 2026). At the end of 2005, a company opened a custody account with the Geneva[...]

When drafted in broad terms, a compliance clause also covers foreign regulations and sanctions, even when Swiss law has been chosen as the governing law. The bank may rely on such a clause to freeze the relevant assets on the grounds that it must comply with foreign sanctions, even after the termination of the banking relationship (Federal Supreme Court 4A_455/2025 of May 21, 2026). In the case at hand, the client company holds cash accounts with a Swiss bank, a[...]

In its decision 4A_433/2025 of May 27, 2026, the Federal Court dismissed the appeal of a liability insurer that had refused to pay benefits under a policy structured according to the loss-occurrence principle. This mechanism links the claim to the time when the damage becomes apparent, rather than to the date of the underlying event. The insured, a manufacturer of aluminum composite panels used for facade cladding, had been covered by the appellant’s liability insurance for several years. The insurance[...]

In a ruling 4A_535/2025 dated April 28, 2026, scheduled for publication, the Federal Court rules on the right—or rather, the obligation— of an agent to refuse to carry out a client’s instructions when there is reason to believe that the client’s assets fall under the “freezing of assets and economic resources” provision within the meaning ofArticle 15 of the Ordinance Establishing Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (“Ukraine Ordinance”). On November 18, 2021, an investment company (the “Company”),[...]