Financial Services Act (FinSA)

The Swiss Financial Services Act (FinSA) entered into force on January 1, 2020. The Act introduced new rules for the provision of financial services and the offering of financial instruments. The regulation aims to further strengthen the Swiss financial center, improve investor protection and enhance transparency on financial instruments. 

FinSA applies whenever the financial service is provided in Switzerland, or to clients domiciled in Switzerland.

NextGen Capital SA is owned by its partners. It is subject to supervision of ARIF (Rue de Rive 8, 1211 Geneva 3), a self-regulatory organisation. Following the FinIA transition period, NextGen Capital SA plans to apply for supervision by a supervisory organisation (OSIF) and will in turn be regulated by FINMA. 

The legislation established three client classifications: “Retail”, “Professional” and “Institutional” clients to determine the level of required investor protection. A change of the client classification can be requested by the client in writing which results in changes in the financial instrument offering and investor protection at the same time. Please refer to the downloads section for further information.

Trading in financial instruments harbors opportunities and risks. Therefore, it is important to understand these risks before investing in such instruments. The revised brochure “Risks Involved in Trading Financial Instruments” includes the most important details of typical risks and is available in the downloads section below.

As of January 2022, clients benefit in particular from increased transparency through-out the investment cycle e.g.:

1. Key Information Documents (KIDs): “Retail Clients” receive standardized information for certain financial instruments, including details of risks and costs.
2. Advisory minutes: After every advisory meeting with the Relationship Manager, “Retail Clients” automatically receive the minutes documenting the suitability and the reasoning of the advice given. “Professional Clients” are able to request them.
3. Reports: Clients can request investment reports, which contain, amongst others, the portfolio performance, asset allocation, financial instruments and service costs.

Disputes about legal claims between a client and a financial services provider should be handled in a referral process by the Financial Services Ombudsman (“Ombudsman”). The Ombudsman is a free and neutral information and mediation agency. In general, the Ombudsman only gets actively involved after the asset manager receives and has had an opportunity to respond to a written client compliant.

FINSOM, Avenue de la Gare 45, 1920 Martigny (Switzerland)