SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Lukas Morscher and Lukas Staub, Lenz & Staehelin
assessed based on the general principles gov - erning insurance services provision, especially those related to FINMA’s insurance supervision objectives. The revised insurance regulations have introduced, among other things, more stringent requirements for insurance intermedia - tion and new criteria for supervision by FINMA as of 1 January 2024. 8.2 Treatment of Different Types of Insurance Swiss insurance supervisory law contains spe - cific provisions for different types of insurance. ISA distinguishes between three kinds of insur - ance: life insurance, indemnity/non-life insur - ance and reinsurance. A key point is that life insurers can only offer casualty and sickness insurance besides life insurance. Different rules also apply with regard to capital requirements. Moreover, mandatory sickness insurers follow a completely different regulatory regime under Swiss law. While FINMA is the competent super - visory authority under ISA, the Federal Office of Public Health supervises insurers providing mandatory sickness insurance. Recently revised legislation, which entered into force on 1 Janu - ary 2024, brought considerable simplifications for reinsurers as well as insurers that only serve professional clients. Also, the rules applicable to insurance intermediaries were revised and generally brought additional requirements and obligations for untied insurance intermediaries (such as insurance brokers). 9. Regtech 9.1 Regulation of Regtech Providers Regtech is a type of fintech focusing on technol - ogies and software that helps companies meet regulatory requirements and stay compliant in a cost-effective and comprehensive way. Regtech
software can automate compliance tasks and monitor and detect risks on an ongoing basis. There is currently no specific legislation govern - ing regtech. FINMA has generally welcomed tech applications that help supervised entities comply with regulatory requirements. FINMA may define technical standards and formats if and when there is a market need for them. 9.2 Contractual Terms to Assure Performance and Accuracy The general requirements on outsourcing apply when regulated financial service firms use regtech providers (see 2.8 Outsourcing of Regulated Functions ). Depending on the spe - cific services involved, a regtech provider must also comply with a service-level agreement and provide for service credit payments and other remedies in order for the customer to measure and enforce performance and accuracy. 10. Blockchain 10.1 Use of Blockchain in the Financial Services Industry DLT, such as various types of blockchain, has been the focus of many public and private ini - tiatives. First, traditional fundraising techniques and processes have been challenged in the last couple of years by the emergence of a new form of capital raising by start-ups in the form of ICOs or token-generating events based on DLT. With the advance of this technology, the focus is now shifting on tokenising traditional assets such as shares and other securities, as well as DLT-based payment solutions. Some Swiss companies have already issued shares on the blockchain, and FINMA has grant - ed banking licences to two dedicated block -
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