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What is a Representative of Foreign funds in Switzerland?

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According to the Swiss Collective Investment Scheme Act (CISA) : “The Fund Representative represents the foreign collective investment scheme with regard to investors and FINMA.” (art. 124 CISA).

What is a Representative of Foreign funds in Switzerland?

A Fund Representative is

  • a local intermediary between a Swiss investor and a foreign fund
  • an intermediary between the FINMA and this foreign fund.

The positive role of the Fund Representative is :

  • to offer protection to Swiss investors who invest in a fund domiciled outside Switzerland
  • to facilitate the communication and transparency between a foreign fund and Swiss investors
  • to help foreign funds to comply with some requirements of Switzerland fund distribution regulations.

How does it work?

To sum up, the Representative has three main responsibilities related to Swiss investor’s protection:

  1. A Swiss investor can ask to the Fund Representative the main documents of a foreign fund and the Fund Representative has the obligation to provide these documents. As a consequence, the fund has the obligation to always provide to the Fund Representative the latest version of its documents.
  2. The Fund Representative also has the obligation to verify that the fund’s legal documents contain legally required standard information for Swiss investors. As a practical example: to ensure that an investor can contact the Swiss Representative, the Swiss disclosures must mention the name and address of the Swiss Representative.
  3. A Swiss investor can also contact the Swiss Fund Representative for questions or complaints about a fund. As an intermediary, the Swiss Fund Representative must assist Swiss investors to liaise with a fund and its manager if they have questions or complaints about the fund.

As mentioned in CISA, the Fund Representative is also an intermediary between FINMA and foreign funds. For instance, it must inform FINMA in case of important issues with a fund (for instance: the loss of a licence to operate, or sanctions from foreign authorities…). Reciprocally, FINMA can contact a Swiss Representative to obtain more information on a foreign fund if it has received complaints from a Swiss investor.

Finally, for funds offered to Swiss retail clients, the Representative has more obligations and supports the fund in its:

  • registration with FINMA
  • approval of the main fund documents by FINMA
  • reporting to FINMA of changes in the fund’s documents or of the fund’s structure.
  • publication of the fund’s documents and the fund’s net asset value

How is the Swiss Rep. regulated and supervised?

A Fund Representative must obtain a specific license from FINMA to perform its activities; which are audited annually. Its status, obligations, and the obligations of foreign funds marketed in Switzerland derive mainly from two acts: The Collective Investment Scheme Act (CISA), and the Financial Services Act (FINSA). The Fund Rep. must also comply with a code of conduct which includes various duties in terms of loyalty, due diligence, and the provision of necessary information.

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