Due to a new legal regulation, it is worthwhile for the Munich asset manager Scalable Capital The robo-advisor is therefore withdrawing from the neighboring country.
At first glance, Switzerland appears to be an ideal market for a German asset manager: its geographical proximity, many wealthy residents, and a large portion of the population speaking German. However, the problem is that Switzerland is not part of the European Union and therefore does not belong to the European financial market.
New regulation increases the effort
On January 1, 2020, the Financial Services Act (FIDLEG) will come into force in Switzerland. This regulates the relationship between financial service providers and their customers. It also requires providers of financial products to comply with certain information and transparency standards. Within the EU, the MiFID II directive serves a similar purpose.
As Handelsblatt reports, Scalable Capital expects additional effort and costs due to the new regulations. The Munich-based company is therefore leaving the Swiss market. Co-founder Erik Podzuweit:
"We didn't have our own branch in Switzerland, but operated our business from Germany. Until now, it was sufficient for us to have a license as an asset manager from the German financial regulator BaFin and to comply with the MiFID II requirements."
To continue serving Swiss clients, Podzuweit stated, the company would have had to comply with the FinSA requirements. This effort would not have been worthwhile. Therefore, the Swiss clients' accounts will be closed at the turn of the year.
Scalable Capital keeps open the possibility of returning to Switzerland
The fintech hasn't given up on the Swiss market, however, and is keeping its return open. Previous business in Switzerland was handled in euros from Germany via a German custodian bank. Podzuweit told Handelsblatt that this was a disadvantage, as the Swiss prefer to conduct their financial transactions in francs.
“If we approach the market again in the future, it will be either with our own branch or with a local partner,”
says Erik Podzuweit.
With assets under management of over 1.5 billion euros and more than 50,000 portfolios under management, Scalable Capital claims to be the market leader in Continental Europe.
