Asset Management division
The Asset Management division’s tasks are performed by the following four organisational units: Authorisation, Supervision of Institutions and Products, Portfolio managers and Trustees and Legal Expertise. In addition to the Financial Market Supervision Act as a framework law for financial market supervision, the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA) and Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) provide the legal basis for the activities carried out by the Asset Management division.
Broad range of institutions and products subject to FinIA and CISA
In the area of institutional asset management, institutions such as fund management companies, managers of collective assets, custodian banks, representatives of foreign collective investment schemes and Swiss collective investment schemes such as contractual investment schemes, investment companies with variable capital (SICAVs), investment companies with fixed capital (SICAFs) and limited partnerships for collective capital investment schemes (LPCIs), are subject to the Financial Institutions Act and Collective Investment Schemes Act. This is also the case for foreign collective investment schemes offered to non-qualified investors in Switzerland. In accordance with Article 5 FinIA and Article 132 CISA, FINMA grants the licences and authorisations required under this act. At the same time, it monitors compliance with legal, contractual, statutory and regulatory provisions. The Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), Financial Institutions Ordinance (FinIO) and FINMA Financial Institutions Ordinance (FinIO-FINMA), as well as the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA), the Collective Investment Schemes Ordinance (CISO) and the FINMA Collective Investment Schemes Ordinance (CISO-FINMA) govern the licensing and authorisation requirements.
New regulations for portfolio managers and trustees
When the FinIA entered into force on 1 January 2020, portfolio managers and trustees also became subject to prudential supervision. In order to carry out their activities they require a licence from FINMA and must be affiliated with a supervisory organisation (SO).
