Commentaries

The Brexit, which took effect on 31 January 2021, is now having a direct impact on UK-Swiss relations in the financial sector. In addition to ongoing discussions on mutual recognition, which remain at a high level for the time being, the UK has recognised the equivalence of Swiss regulations on trading venues for the purposes of Art. 23 MiFIR (see The Markets in Financial Instruments (Switzerland Equivalence) Regulations 2021 adopted on 12 January 2021, presented to parliament on 13 January[...]

In a ruling dated 14 January 2021 (4A_556/2019), the Federal Supreme Court examined the question of whether the ratification of a portfolio valuation by the client constitutes a tacit change to the investment profile. In November 2010, a Panamanian company gave a management mandate to a Swiss bank. They agreed that the management would be carried out conservatively in accordance with the pre-printed ‘Investment instructions for management mandates’. However, following a decline in performance, the beneficial owner (ADE) of the[...]

On 1 December, the SBA notified its member banks of the revised Guidelines on Asset Management Mandates (previously: Depierre, cdbf.ch/900/). Two important points should be noted. The first is the entry into force on 1 January 2020 of the Financial Services Act (LSFin) and its implementing ordinance (OSFin), which are partly based on MiFID II. The second is that the ASB has given the guidelines the status of voluntary self-regulation, meaning that they are not binding in the same way[...]