SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Kilian Schärli, Reto Luthiger, Andrea Trost and Diana Lafita, MLL Legal
improve risk management by spotting patterns and predicting market changes using advanced data analytics. Switzerland hosts several provid - ers of AI solutions for asset managers, includ - ing Avaloq, Advanon, Swissquote, Temenos and Actico. At the end of January 2025, UBS announced that it has joined forces with Microsoft’s Azure AI to power smart assistants that streamline con - tent access and provide real-time information to client advisors, to in turn provide more tailored and efficient services to clients. Structural Impact of Trends in the Industry and Macroeconomic Developments The disappearance of intermediaries In the long run, blockchain technologies com - bined with AI may eliminate an important part of the value chain, namely the intermediation of services, giving investors direct access and allowing them to take final decisions with effi - cient AI assistance. This diminishes the coun - terparty credit risks of using intermediaries and reduces costs. In a world where tokenised securities are becoming more prevalent, collective investment schemes may be significantly impacted because less regulated exchange-traded products (ETPs), non-listed actively managed certificates (AMCs) or an investment strategy crafted by an asset manager might replace the traditional col - lective investment fund for the management of tokenised securities directly invested from inves - tors’ wallets. The retailisation of services The retailisation trend – ie, the so-called democ - ratisation of investments, is a result of the availa- bility of highly digitised, automated and scalable
online asset management solutions for retail and the high costs of traditional intermediaries. In the mid- to long term, tokenisation and DLT trading venues will empower retail to directly make investments, thereby enhancing its finan - cial situation, including more investments in illiq - uid or non-bankable assets. This could reduce fiat in bank accounts, benefitting direct retail investments in private equity or debt via crowd - lending platforms and again removing interme - diation. Market structure and competition Healthy market competition is essential for driv - ing innovation. Due to the merger of Credit Sui - sse and UBS, there may be certain parts of some business segments that are subject to control by the Swiss Competition Commission. Switzer - land has strict competition and anti-trust rules in place to protect competitiveness. Furthermore, Switzerland has a liberal regime with regard to cross-border banking services and providing asset management services in Switzerland. Foreign financial institutions that operate on a strict cross-border basis can pro - vide their services to residents in Switzerland without obtaining a licence. This enhances the competitiveness of foreign players in the Swiss market, though the unequal conditions may not necessarily be fair for Swiss players. Neverthe - less, this situation honours the core principles of the WTO’s multilateral General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Foreign service provid - ers that provide an activity subject to licence in Switzerland may not create a physical presence, such as by establishing a branch or representa - tive office or by having employees or agents in Switzerland on a permanent basis, without first obtaining the required Swiss licence or affiliation with a self-regulatory organisation for AML pur -
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