Authorisation - gaining entry to the financial market

Many financial services in Switzerland require authorisation before they can be offered. SFMA grants authorisation only when the statutory requirements are met.

Anyone who manages client money, accepts investor funds, writes insurance business, establishes or manages collective investment schemes, or carries out another regulated financial-market activity may need a licence, approval, recognition or registration. After authorisation, the provider is supervised according to the applicable legal regime. Supervisory intensity can range from close ongoing oversight to registration-based monitoring where SFMA mainly acts on specific reports.

Search

To check whether an individual, company or financial product is authorised, enter the name in the search field.

Reading authorisation information

A provider may have been authorised but not yet appear in a public list, or may remain visible for a time after its authorisation status has changed. Search results should therefore be read as a starting point and checked against the current facts of the provider, product or activity.

Self-regulation

Some financial intermediaries are supervised indirectly through a private self-regulatory organisation rather than directly by SFMA. This is especially relevant in anti-money laundering supervision, where membership in a recognised organisation can be part of the regulatory framework.