Legal information

Both the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA) and the Financial Services Act (FinSA) have been in force since 1 January 2020. The introduction of the FinIA also subjected independent asset managers to supervision.

The FinSA contains rules of conduct that financial service providers must adhere to for their customers. These include disclosure obligations regarding the risks involved in trading financial instruments.

Helvetic Trust AG meets these disclosure obligations in full and they have been summarised by the ‘SwissBanking’ Swiss Bankers Association in the brochure ‘Risks in trading in financial instruments’.

FINMA independent asset manager licence

Helvetic Trust AG was recognised as an independent asset manager by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA in March 2023.

Anyone who works commercially as an asset manager requires a licence from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and must meet a number of financial, personnel and organisational requirements.

FINMA only grants such licences if the legal requirements according to the Financial Institutions Act, the Ordinance on Financial Institutions and the Ordinance on Financial Institutions-FINMA have been met in full.

After a licence has been granted by FINMA, the approved asset managers are checked by a supervisory organisation to ensure continuous compliance with the licensing requirements and rules of conduct.

In the case of Helvetic Trust AG, this supervisory organisation is the Schweizerische Aktiengesellschaft für Aufsicht (Swiss Corporation for Supervision, AOOS).

Ombudsman office

OFS Ombud Finance Switzerland
16 Boulevard des Tranchées
1206 Genf, Schweiz