As the first in­de­pen­dent fund re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ve (FIN­MA li­cen­se sin­ce 2002) FIFS is one of the pro­vi­ders with the lon­gest and most com­pre­hen­si­ve ex­pe­ri­en­ce in the re­pre­sen­ta­ti­on of for­eign funds in Swit­z­er­land. Sin­ce the ye­ar 2002 we sup­port our cust­o­m­ers when en­te­ring the Swiss mar­ket and du­ring the on-go­ing com­pli­an­ce with re­gu­la­to­ry re­qui­re­ments. Ad­di­tio­nal sup­port is of­fe­red to our cust­o­m­ers re­gar­ding com­pli­an­ce with the ap­p­lica­ble ru­les of con­duct at the point of sa­le, when affi­lia­ting with an om­buds­man’s of­fice, for re­gi­stra­ti­on in the re­gi­ster of cli­ent ad­vi­sers and for the eva­lua­ti­on of a sui­ta­ble dis­tri­bu­ti­on part­ner in Swit­z­er­land.

Re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ve ser­vices

Trai­ning of ru­les of con­duct

Om­buds­man’s of­fice and cli­ent ad­vi­ser re­gi­ster

Re­pre­sen­ta­ti­on of funds re­gi­ste­red with FIN­MA

In or­der to com­ply with the le­gal and re­gu­la­to­ry re­qui­re­ments in Swit­z­er­land, FIFS of­fers for­eign funds that are of­fe­red to non-qua­li­fied and qua­li­fied in­ve­stors the fol­lo­wing ser­vices:

• Re­pre­sen­ta­ti­on of for­eign funds towards Swiss in­ve­stors and FIN­MA
• Com­pli­an­ce with le­gal re­porting, pu­bli­ca­ti­on and in­for­ma­ti­on ob­li­ga­ti­on and the ru­les of con­duct of in­du­stry or­ga­ni­sa­ti­ons which ha­ve be­en de­cla­red a mi­ni­mum stan­dard by FIN­MA
• Pro­vi­ding a place of ju­ris­dic­tion at the do­mi­ci­le of the re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ve
• Eva­lua­ti­on of dis­tri­bu­ti­on part­ners and
  
• Eva­lua­ti­on of a pay­ing agent re­qui­red by law

Re­pre­sen­ta­ti­on of funds not re­gi­ste­red with FIN­MA

In or­der to com­ply with the le­gal re­qui­re­ments in Swit­z­er­land FIFS of­fers for­eign funds which are of­fe­red to cer­tain qua­li­fied in­ve­stors (high net worth in­di­vi­du­als and pri­va­te in­vest­ment struc­tu­res esta­blis­hed for high net worth in­di­vi­du­als), the fol­lo­wing ser­vices:

• Re­pre­sen­ta­ti­on of for­eign funds towards Swiss in­ve­stors and FIN­MA
• Com­pli­an­ce with le­gal re­porting and in­for­ma­ti­on re­qui­re­ments and the ru­les of con­duct of in­du­stry  or­ga­ni­sa­ti­ons which ha­ve be­en de­cla­red a mi­ni­mum stan­dard by FIN­MA
• Pro­vi­ding a place of ju­ris­dic­tion at the do­mi­ci­le of the re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ve
• Eva­lua­ti­on of dis­tri­bu­ti­on part­ners, and
• Eva­lua­ti­on of a pay­ing agent re­qui­red by law

Sin­ce the new re­spec­tive­ly re­vi­sed fi­nan­ci­al mar­ket laws and the re­la­ted or­di­nan­ces ca­me in­to force as of 1 Ja­nu­a­ry 2020, in ad­di­ti­on to the me­re of­fe­ring of and the ad­ver­ti­sing for funds, al­so the me­re “fund dis­tri­bu­ti­on” is re­gu­la­ted, pro­vi­ded that such ac­tivi­ty is con­side­red a fi­nan­ci­al ser­vice.

If a fi­nan­ci­al ser­vice is in­vol­ved, the fol­lo­wing must be con­side­red in­ter alia:

• the cli­ent ad­vi­ser ac­tive at the point of sa­le in Swit­z­er­land of a fi­nan­ci­al ser­vice pro­vi­der must be re­gi­ste­red in a re­gi­ster of cli­ent ad­vi­sers un­less an ex­cep­ti­on ap­plies;
• the fi­nan­ci­al ser­vice pro­vi­der must en­su­re that the cli­ent  ad­vi­sers ac­tive in Swit­z­er­land pos­sess the ne­cessa­ry ex­per­ti­se and suf­fi­ci­ent know­ledge of the ru­les of con­duct re­qui­red for their ac­tivi­ties;
• the fi­nan­ci­al ser­vices pro­vi­der must be affi­lia­ted with an om­buds­man’s of­fice and ha­ve the pro­fes­sio­nal lia­bi­li­ty in­suran­ce re­qui­red by law.

FIFS of­fers a prac­tice-ori­en­ted trai­ning for the cli­ent ad­vi­sers working at the point of sa­le re­gar­ding the ru­les of con­duct to be ob­ser­ved in Swit­z­er­land. This is to en­su­re that your cli­ent ad­vi­sers al­ways meet the re­gu­la­to­ry ob­li­ga­ti­ons to in­ve­stors in Swit­z­er­land. The FIFS re­gu­la­to­ry trai­ning is ap­pro­ved by BX Swiss as pro­of of suf­fi­ci­ent know­leg­de of the ru­les of con­duct. Ad­di­tio­nal­ly, FIFS of­fers sup­port for the re­gi­stra­ti­on of cli­ent ad­vi­sers and when affi­lia­ting with an om­buds­man’s of­fice.