The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has adjusted Circular 2008/11 "Disclosure requirements for securities Transactions". In future, securities dealers can choose freely which reporting office they want to notify about off-exchange securities transactions. These adjustments come into force on 1 October 2013.
In Switzerland, off-exchange securities transactions must be reported to one of the exchanges authorised by FINMA, if those securities are admitted to trading on a Swiss exchange. If the securities are admitted for trading on more than one exchange, the securities dealers concerned can choose to which exchange they want to report the transactions in order to comply with disclosure requirements. This has been set out in the FINMA Ordinance on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading (SESTO-FINMA).
The current version of FINMA Circular 2008/11, however, restricts the possibility for securities dealers to choose freely as prescribed in SESTO-FINMA. The Circular has thus been adjusted to allow securities dealers to choose freely. These new rules come into force on 1 October 2013.
In principle, the disclosure requirements provide for transparency in securities trading which enhances the protection of investors. Apart from on-exchange securities trading, exchanges must be able to monitor off-exchange securities transactions that have been admitted to trading. The exchanges would not be able to adequately comply with this requirement if they were not notified about such transactions.
