FIDLEG — Swiss Financial Services Act

The Financial Services Act (FIDLEG) entered into force on 1 January 2020 and creates uniform conduct and organizational rules for all providers of financial services in Switzerland. It is the Swiss equivalent of the European MiFID II and brings Swiss standards to a comparable level.

• Client segmentation: Classification into retail, professional, and institutional clients
• Conduct rules: Information, suitability, and appropriateness obligations
• Prospectus requirement: Mandatory prospectus for public securities offerings
• Key Information Document (KID): Standardized short information document for financial products
• Ombudsman requirement: Mandatory affiliation with an ombudsman service for financial service providers
• Registration requirement: Adviser register for client advisers of non-prudentially supervised institutions

The need for FIDLEG arose from the equivalence discussion with the EU: following the introduction of MiFID II, Switzerland risked non-recognition of Swiss financial market access by the EU. Switzerland opted for an independent but MiFID II-aligned law that simultaneously eliminated domestic legal fragmentation (different rules for banks, asset managers, insurers).

FIDLEG was adopted by Parliament on 15 June 2018, together with FINIG. It entered into force on 1 January 2020; certain transitional periods for prospectuses ran until end of 2021; the deadlines for general conduct obligations, the adviser register and affiliation with an ombudsman service ran until 1 January 2022. Swiss equivalence recognition by the EU initially remained unresolved for political reasons (Framework Agreement). Under the Bilateral III package (materially concluded end 2024, initialled May 2025), the question of financial services equivalence is being addressed anew.

FIDLEG applies to all financial service providers operating in Switzerland or providing financial services to clients in Switzerland:

• Banks and securities dealers
• Independent asset managers and trustees
• Fund managers and SICAV companies
• Insurance companies (for investment-linked insurance)
• Foreign financial service providers in cross-border activities into Switzerland

Exceptions exist for pure B2B transactions between professional or institutional clients.

• Client segmentation: Classification and documentation of client status (retail/professional/institutional)
• Suitability assessment: For investment advice and portfolio management
• Appropriateness assessment: For other financial services
• Information obligations: Pre-contractual information on services, costs, and conflicts of interest
• KID (Key Information Document): Mandatory for retail clients for packaged products
• Prospectus requirement: For all public offerings of securities (exemption e.g.: offerings under CHF 8 million per Art. 36(1)(e) FIDLEG)
• Ombudsman service: Affiliation with a FINMA-recognized ombudsman service
• Adviser register: Registration of client advisers of non-supervised institutions

FIDLEG is the Swiss equivalent of MiFID II — equivalence connection was missing.

"FinSA — Financial Services Act" was classified under theme "Jurisdiktion". Correct is "Finanzmarkt". National laws and authorities are classified by subject matter, not as Jurisdiction. Country profiles are classified as Jurisdiction.

4 updates:
- Missing development: FINIG revision (payment/crypto institutions) with FIDLEG relevance
- last_amended outdated: 2021-12-31 instead of 2024-03-01
- Missing development: FINMA Circular 2025/2 on conduct obligations
- Missing development: Bilateral III package EU-Switzerland addresses equivalence
2 clarifications.
1 note.