SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Nicolas Béguin, Joseph Merhai, Thomas Pasquier and Benjamin Vignieu, Aegis
LPCI prospectuses must contain the information in the partnership agreement on investments, investment policy, investment restrictions, risk diversification, risks associated with investment and investment techniques (Article 49, para 2 FinSA). L-QIFs are not required to produce a prospectus (Article 50, para 1 FinSA). Duty to publish a Key Information Document (KID) Funds that are offered to retail investors outside the scope of a portfolio management agreement must issue a KID (Article 58, para 1 FinSA). This basic information sheet must contain all the information essential for investors to make a well-founded investment decision and a com - parison of different financial instruments (Article 60, para 1 FinSA). Foreign AIFs Foreign AIFs offered in Switzerland to non-qual - ified investors, high net worth retail clients and private investment structures created for them that have opted out of being treated as profes - sional clients must include information on the Swiss representative and paying agent in their prospectus (Article 133, para 2 CISO). It shall also include information on the location where the prospectus, the KID, the constituting doc - uments of the funds, and the last annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained (Article 133, para 2 CISO). Reporting Requirements Open-ended funds and LPCIs are required to publish an annual report within four months of the close of the financial year, providing the fol - lowing information in particular (Article 89, para 1 and Article 108 CISA):
• the annual accounts consisting notably of a statement of net assets or the balance sheet and the profit and loss account; • the number of units redeemed and newly issued during the financial year; • the inventory of the fund’s assets; • the valuation principles; • a breakdown of the buy and sell transactions; • the names of persons and companies to which duties have been entrusted; and • other information relating to matters of par - ticular economic or legal significance, such as amendments to funds regulations, a change of fund management company or custodian bank and legal disputes. SICAFs are also required to publish a similar annual report, but with limited information tai - lored to this type of fund (Articles 89 and 117 CISA). Open-ended funds and closed-ended funds must also publish a semi-annual report, which shall be issued within two months after the end of the first half of the financial year (Article 89, para 3 and Articles 108 and 117 CISA). This report notably contains an unaudited financial statement, information on units issued and redeemed during that period, the inventory of the fund’s assets and a breakdown of the buy and sell transactions. Similar reporting requirements apply to foreign AIFs (Article 133, para 2, lit d CISO). 2.2 Fund Investment 2.2.1 Types of Investors in Alternative Funds Swiss CIS, including Swiss AIFs, are strongly focused on local investors, mainly because they do not benefit from a European regulatory “pass - port” for distribution in the European Union.
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