The Swiss Parliament and Federal Council will launch a new category of grant-free funds on March 1, 2024.。

The Swiss Parliament voted in December 2021 to introduce a new fund class, the Limited Qualified Investor Fund (L-QIF), and amended the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) accordingly.。The Federal Council will put these changes into effect on March 1, 2024.。

L-QIF is a collective investment program that does not require authorization or approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINMA) and is not regulated by FINMA.。To qualify, the funds must be offered only to qualified investors and managed by an entity regulated by FINMA。

The body administering the L-QIF is responsible for complying with the L-QIF rules。

To ensure transparency, the fund must be designated as a limited qualified investor fund or L-QIF on the front page of the fund document and in the advertisement.。In addition, investors must be clearly stated that the Fund is exempt from FINMA's authorization, approval and supervision。

The Federal Ministry of Finance (FDF) will publicly register all L-QIFs。FINMA is not responsible for interpretation issues related to L-QIF and is not responsible for issuing L-QIF specific rules。

The Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) and the Collective Investment Schemes Regulations (CISO) have also been amended in other ways to implement international standards, keep up with market developments and enhance legal certainty.。

In particular, the revised legislation lays the legal foundation for domestic exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including new disclosure requirements.。It also makes collective investment schemes more flexible by introducing supplementary provisions on liquidity, in line with international standards.。These provisions are designed to ensure that the liquidity profile of collective investment schemes is appropriate to their asset classes, investment policies, risk diversification, investor types and redemption frequency.。CISO will also add further liquidity requirements。

The creation of "side pockets" will be included on a statutory basis, such as segregating illiquid individual assets in open collective investment schemes; another provision sets out the procedures and notification requirements required if the scheme's investment rules are voluntarily violated。

The new CISA and CISO regulations take effect on 1 March 2024 and apply to new collective investment schemes from that date.。In some areas, though, the two-year transition period will apply to collective investment schemes already authorized or approved, such as new disclosure requirements for securities lending and repurchase transactions and Swiss ETFs.。

Existing collective investment schemes must also meet liquidity requirements within two years after the change takes effect, while new collective investment schemes (including L-QIF) must meet these rules from the date of their establishment。