By the end of 2022, Swiss asset managers and trustees had to have at least submitted their application for a license to the financial regulator. The mountain of applications mountain is still being worked through.
Since the turn of the year, a license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has been mandatory for independent asset managers (IAMs) and trustees. But this was not a hard deadline, and those submitting their application are still allowed to do business. Since then, there have been intermittent reports from individual companies that have received approval.
One such manager receiving approval is Inpearl Invest, which the six-person company announced Tuesday. Its founder and managing director Roland Wicki described it as a milestone in the company's more than 25-year history.
16,000 Francs Later
But the road was long and rocky. «We started the Finma process in June 2022, so it took a total of almost 14 months,» Wicki told finews.com. At times, the burden on individual employees was very high to compile the necessary evidence and information. «Finma made five phone calls to us, after which there was always a substantial list to work off,» the Inpearl CEO continued.
Financially, the burden was limited. «We spent around 10,000 francs on consulting, and the costs at Finma itself were estimated at 6,100 francs.»
The license offers the company advantages. «One of its specialties is actively managed certificates (AMC). There are issuers in the area which do not yet require a license for asset management. Most issuers and administrators now only work with regulated partners or are in the process of implementing this directive. We see a lot of potential for consolidation in this area. Our project pipeline is accordingly full.»
Nearly a Thousand Licenses
Finma keeps precise records of the licenses issued and publishes the list of companies that are appropriately licensed almost daily. Meanwhile, the number of asset managers and trustees stands at 904, in addition to 86 firms licensed as domestic group companies under the Finia Directive.
By the December 31, 2022 deadline, Finma had received 1,699 applications, and granted 670 institutions a license. That left about 1,000 applications pending, it said in January. 1,060 institutions had informed the authority they wouldn't apply. In August, the supervisor is expected to issue another status report.
