Investment Funds
We provide insight and knowledge into the legal needs of sponsors of public and private funds alike, bringing a practical, efficient approach to our analysis and problem solving.
Areas of expertise
- Structuring of cross border set-ups (including tax)
- Swiss fund formations, documentation and licensing with FINMA for a large range of asset classes
- Asset management agreements, advisory agreements, distribution and custody agreements
- Licensing for fund management companies, asset managers of collective investment schemes, Swiss representatives; registration as client advisors
- Compliance (including insourcing)
- Cross-border marketing (including training)
- Registration of foreign investment funds for distribution to non-qualified investors
- Listing of funds (including ETFs) and investment companies on Swiss Exchanges
- Private equity and venture capital (fund structuring, tax and transactional aspects)
Other relevant areas
Asset Management | Debt & Equity Capital Markets | Structured Finance & Lending | Trade & Commodity Finance | Aviation & Ship Finance | Islamic Finance | Derivatives, Structured Products | Financial Services & Regulatory | General Legal Documentation & Transaction Support | Regulatory & Compliance Support | FinTech | Private Banking | Payment Services
“Very deep understanding of Swiss law on pledge. Also, very responsive and attentive to details”
Publications
Alternative Funds 2021 – Switzerland
Chambers Global Practice Guides, Alternative Funds 2021, Switzerland: Law and Practice, p. 305, November 2021- EN
- Reto Luthiger
- Catrina Luchsinger Gähwiler
- Alexander Vogel
- Marcel R. Jung
Alternative Funds 2020 – Switzerland
Chambers & Partners, Alternative Funds 2020 Guide, 30 October 2020- EN
Client segmentation under FinSA
International Law Office, November 2019- EN
- Alexander Vogel
- Reto Luthiger
- Fabienne Walter
Classification of stablecoins under Swiss law: FINMA publishes amended guidelines
International Law Office, October 2019- EN
Firm News
9 practice groups featured in the Chambers Global Edition 2024
8 practice groups and 5 lawyers come out top 4 in the Chambers Global Edition 2023
MLL ranked in Chambers Global 2022 law firm directory
News Portal
Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities
On 22 May 2024 the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the new Transparency Act for Legal Entities to be submitted to the Swiss parliament. The bill introduces a new federal register of beneficial owners of legal entities as well as new due diligence duties for risky activities in the legal profession, following the purpose of enhancing effectiveness of the Swiss framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Furthermore, the bill aims compliance with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
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The new Limited Qualified Investor Fund (L-QIF) – What is it and who is it for?
Following our recent newsletter contributions on this topic, please be informed about key developments regarding a new structuring option for collective investment schemes (funds) in Switzerland, the so-called «L-QIF«, that offers attractive opportunities, in particular for banks, pension funds, and Swiss-based family offices.
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Agreement between Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) on Mutual Recognition in Financial Services
On 21 December 2023, Switzerland signed a first-of-its-kind financial services agreement with the UK (Agreement) after two years of talks which began after the UK left the EU. The Agreement uses outcomes-based mutual recognition of each jurisdiction’s financial services regulatory and supervisory regimes to facilitate cross-border trade in financial services to wholesale and sophisticated clients on the basis of deference, domestic law or other arrangements:
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In Spotlight: What Are Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Bonds and How Do They Function?
In the course of the forced emergency merger between UBS and Credit Suisse for CHF 3 billion in UBS shares, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordered the write off of CS’s Additional Tier 1 bonds in the total amount of CHF 16 billion.
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Swiss Marketing Rules for Foreign Fund Managers: Be Reminded of the 31 December 2021 Deadline
This note is part of a series of briefings on the Financial Services Act (FINSA, FIDLEG in German and LSFin in French) that came into force in 2020 and is a reminder for fund managers and other entities advertising, offering or marketing foreign funds on a cross-border basis to Swiss qualified investors that all FINSA requirements will need to be satisfied by 31 December 2021.
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