SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Nicolas Béguin, Joseph Merhai, Thomas Pasquier and Benjamin Vignieu, Aegis
4. Legal, Regulatory or Tax Changes 4.1 Recent Developments and Proposals for Reform Revision of CISA and CISO In March 2024, the revised CISA and its imple - menting ordinance (CISO) came into force. A key aspect of the revised CISA is the introduction of the long-awaited L-QIF, which allows the launch of CIS for qualified investors under certain con - ditions. Other provisions of CISA and CISO, not directly related to L-QIFs, have also been amended. L-QIFs are operated without the approval, author - isation or product supervision of FINMA. To be eligible, these funds must be offered solely to qualified investors and managed by entities that are supervised by FINMA, typically a fund man - agement company. To ensure transparency, the fund must be clearly labelled as a Limited Quali - fied Investor Fund on the front page of the fund documents and in any promotional materials. Self-Regulation on Transparency and Disclosure The revised AMAS “Self-regulation on transpar - ency and disclosure for sustainability-related collective assets” came into effect on 1 Septem - ber 2024 and aims to ensure transparency, qual - ity and the positioning of asset management and collective assets with a focus on sustainability. While the guidelines are binding for AMAS mem - bers, they are not yet recognised or approved as self-regulation by FINMA. The self-regulation provides binding organisational, reporting and disclosure obligations for institutions that pro - duce and manage sustainable financial prod - ucts. These regulations reflect the Federal Coun - cil’s position on greenwashing prevention in the financial sector, issued on 16 December 2022.
• Open-ended CIS classified as securities funds may borrow the equivalent of up to 10% of the fund’s net asset, but limited to a temporary basis. In addition, such funds may only pledge or transfer as collateral up to a maximum of 25% of the fund’s net assets (Article 77, paras 1 and 2 CISO). • Open-ended CIS for traditional investments may raise loans for an amount of up to 25% of the fund’s net assets, pledge or assign as collateral no more than 60% of the fund’s net assets, commit to an overall exposure of up to 225% of the fund’s net asset and engage in short-selling (Article 100, para 1 CISO). • Open-ended CIS specialising in real estate are required to maintain an adequate propor - tion of the fund’s assets in short-term fixed- interest securities or in funds available at short notice to order to secure their liabilities (Article 60 CISA). Short-term fixed-interest securities are deemed to be debt securi - ties with a term or residual term to maturity of up to 12 months (Article 89 CISO). Funds available at short notice are cash positions or bank account deposits at sight and on demand with maturities of up to 12 months, as well as guaranteed credit facilities with a bank for up to 10% of the fund’s net assets (Article 89, para 3 CISO). The credit facilities must be included in the maximum level of encumbrance permitted by law, meaning that the encumbrance may not exceed on average one-third of the market value of all real estate assets of the fund (Article 89, para 3 CISO). 3.6 Tax Regime Please see 2.6 Tax Regime .
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