SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Judith Raijmakers and Florian Thomas Willi, Loyens & Loeff
ent adviser, or affiliate with an ombudsman, and (ii) contain the primary market rules for offering securities; • the Swiss Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA) and the ordinance thereto (FinMIO), which regulate financial infrastructures and provide for rules that ensure the functionality of the Swiss financial market (financial infra - structures include trading venues for securi - ties, central counterparties, central securities depositories, and payment systems); further, FinMIA and FinMIO regulate conduct require - ments for trading in OTC derivatives and exchange-traded derivatives, the rules on the disclosure of significant shareholders in listed companies and the rules on market abuse and insider dealing; and • the Swiss Federal Act on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AMLA) including the ordinances issued thereunder, and, in particular the FINMA Ordinance on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AMLO-FINMA), which sets out the anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) framework for FINMA-regulated financial institutions. With respect to the Swiss supervisory prac - tice, (i) the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA), sets out the competences and instruments for enforcement by FINMA, and (ii) the Swiss National Bank Act (NBA) and the ordinance thereto (NBO), regulate the regulatory framework for the SNB and its powers, which in particular relate to systemic oversight (ie, also systemically important banks). Finally, there are also self-regulatory organisa - tions in Switzerland that issue rules that apply to the banking business. Two examples are the Swiss Banking Association (SBA) and the Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS).
SBA has, inter alia, issued the Agreement on the Swiss Banks’ Code of Conduct for the Exercise of Due Diligence (CDB 20), which focuses on pre - venting money laundering and terrorist financ - ing in the Swiss banking sector. It is expected that an amendment to the CDB 20 will come into effect in 2025. AMAS regularly issues self- regulatory guidelines to its members, including their fund management code of conduct (which is recognised by FINMA as a minimum standard) as well as the AMAS ESG framework applicable to managers of sustainability-related collective assets, or operators or producers thereof. 2. Authorisation 2.1 Licences and Application Process Overview Similar to other jurisdictions, banking activities are regulated in Switzerland. Licences are grant - ed to legal entities that pursue banking activities which are carried out in or from Switzerland. The relevant activities and licensing requirements are set out in the BankA and the related ordinances and circulars. Scope and Limitations of Banking Activities From a Swiss perspective, a bank is an entity that operates primarily in the financial sector and: • accepts deposits from the public exceeding CHF100 million on a commercial basis (or publicly solicits such deposits); • accepts public deposits up to CHF100 million or certain crypto-based assets designated by the Federal Council on a commercial basis (or publicly solicits such deposits) and invests these public deposits or assets or pays inter - est on them; or
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