You engaged in a financial transaction and you think you were cheated.
In most cases, financial service providers have to be authorised. If you have your doubts about a financial service provider, tell us. Providers who have not been authorised by FINMA are not systematically monitored, so feedback from investors is a useful source of information. It helps us to protect clients like you.
What will FINMA do about it?
Every year FINMA investigates hundreds of situations – if, for example, it looks as though cash deposits have been received without authorisation.
FINMA maintains a warning list of unauthorised providers. In certain circumstances in which unauthorised business activity is suspected, FINMA can include such providers in the list. Most of these providers have no physical presence in Switzerland. They merely claim to have a Swiss office. When an provider does have a physical presence in Switzerland, FINMA takes direct action, for instance by appointing an investigating agent.
The providers on FINMA’s warning list usually also feature on the international Investor Alerts Portal maintained by IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions), which lists illegal operators around the globe. Even so, lists like this are never complete. It makes sense to be cautious about any financial products you are offered and to find out exactly who you are dealing with.
How can you protect yourself?
FINMA makes sure the law governing the financial markets is observed, even if a provider has not sought the authorisation it needs before offering its services. However, FINMA cannot ensure systematic and nationwide surveillance of unauthorised financial operators. Often FINMA can only intervene after some investors have suffered a loss.
And thirdly, it encourages investors to consider investment decisions carefully before they make them. No one should invest in a financial product that they do not understand. We recommend that you take precautionary measures before entering into a business transaction with a financial service provider.
Take particular care if someone promises you exceptionally high returns. You can find practical tips on how you can protect yourself from illegal providers of financial services here. Our website also provides you with a non-exhaustive list of examples of illegal providers and investment fraud. Finally, in its client protection report, FINMA provides information on its approach to combating the activities of unauthorised and fraudulent financial intermediaries. Among other things, it also draws attention to ways in which illegal financial intermediaries operate and the methods they use.
Where can you find more information?
FINMA keeps the following lists:
- a list of authorised institutions (licence holders and authorised products)
- warning list (providers suspected of unauthorised operations)
Other federal agencies engaged in combating investment fraud:
