For disputes about legal claims between clients and financial service providers, Art. 74 FinSA provides for a mediation procedure before an Ombudsman’s Office and obliges financial service providers to join such an office. The affiliation must take place within six months of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) recognising the Ombudsman’s Offices.
The FDF recognised the first Ombudsman’s Offices on 24 June 2020. The transition period therefore expires on 23 December 2020. As can be seen from the corresponding FDF communication, further recognition procedures are still pending.
Anyone in Switzerland who makes a public offer to purchase securities or applies for admission of securities to trading on a trading venue is generally required to publish a prospectus (Art. 35 para. 1 FinSA). The prospectus should contain the information that an investor needs to make an investment decision. Before publication, the prospectus must be checked for completeness, coherence and comprehensibility. This task is performed by the Reviewing Bodies (Art. 51 FinSA).
On 1 June 2020, FINMA approved BX Swiss AG and SIX Exchange Regulation AG as Reviewing Bodies. At the end of the six-month transition period, i.e. as of December 1, 2020, public offers or admissions of securities to trading must therefore in general be based on a prospectus approved by a Reviewing Body.