Regulatory & Compliance Financial Services

One of our core competences lies in ICS, compliance and risk management services for financial service providers: We are at your disposal as consultants or outsourcing partners and support you in the implementation of risk management and compliance in your company.

The services can be purchased as complete packages or as modules, customised to your individual needs. Find out here which areas our services cover: 

Do you have a regulatory question in the area of financial market law? We offer you advisory services and/or prepare a legal opinion in the following areas of law, among others: 

• Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)
• Financial Institutions Act (FinIA)
• Financial Services Act (FinSA)
• Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA)
• Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA)
• Banking law
• International tax compliance (QI, FATCA, AEOI/CRS, etc.)
• Corporate Governance
• Cross-Border
• ESG regulation and legal issues in the area of sustainable finance
• Corporate law and data protection law (FADP) in the financial market

A licensing procedure under financial market law is associated with various challenges, both in terms of time and in terms of the process steps to be achieved. Thanks to our many years of practical experience and good networking in the financial sector, we are very familiar with the expectations of the supervisory authorities and FINMA and can provide you with comprehensive support during the licensing process. 

We support you in the following areas: 

• Preparation of the license application
• Creation/review of the required supplements
• Workshops on the internal regulatory framework
• Corporate governance matters
• Review of documents and support with the submission of the application
• Support in exchanges and meetings with FINMA and the supervisory authorities
• Drafting of and submission of correspondence in collaboration with you, e.g. for FINMA/supervisory authorities
• Representation vis-à-vis FINMA/supervisory authorities in the authorisation procedure
• General technical support

Ongoing changes to regulatory requirements are increasingly presenting companies with major challenges and risks that they should be aware of. 

To counteract these risks, our services include a review of your company's regulatory compliance by means of regulatory due diligence and regulatory health checks. Our gap analyses uncover potential gaps in compliance with legal requirements. Based on this, we offer customised solutions to eliminate and prevent these deficits. 

We offer staff training courses and training workshops tailored to your needs on all regulatory topics required by law and directives (including AMLA, FinIA, FinSA, cross-border, market conduct rules, conflicts of interest, data protection and ESG).

With our compliance background check, we support you with in-depth AMLA/KYC background checks on customers, prospects or entire customer books for compliance-relevant information. We also help you with supplier and business partner screenings. 

In addition to structured searches in publicly accessible sources, we also use dedicated risk databases and media research tools for our background checks. We summarise the results of the background checks for you in an informative report. 

This enables you to identify and assess any legal and reputational risks and make the right decisions for your company at an early stage.

"Sustainable finance” adds ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors to financial services with the aim of contributing to the transition to a more sustainable society. 

Financial service providers also face regulatory challenges in this context. ESG factors must increasingly be integrated into the business strategy and decisions, legal and regulatory changes must be monitored and may lead to a need for adjustment, and sustainable finance must be implemented accordingly within the company.   

The specialists at Regulatory & Compliance Financial Services support you in meeting the expectations of clients, investors and supervisory authorities. 

Our experts have many years of experience in the field of internal and regulatory investigations and will provide you with unbiased and independent support in dealing with suspected cases from within (white-collar offences, gross breaches of internal instructions, data protection incidents, etc.) or from outside (white-collar offences, money laundering, cyber attacks, etc.). 

We can advise you on the following topics:

• Strategic support in case of suspicion
• Support or performance of internal investigations
• Definition of measures and support with their implementation
• Preparation of reports or expert opinions
• Reports to the responsible bodies, including self-regulatory organisations (SRO), supervisory authorities (AO), Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS), further authorities, etc. 

Our experts have extensive knowledge and many years of practical experience and will advise you unbiased and independently. 

Our team is made up of experienced legal, compliance and risk management professionals with in-depth knowledge of the financial sector. We work closely with the auditors in the Audit Financial Services division and do everything we can to generate maximum added value for our clients through our services. We support you, enabling you to continue your business activities successfully and in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.

GTRegs is a regulatory monitoring tool for the Swiss financial market.

It supports board members, executives, risk and compliance officers at regulated financial institutions in systematically classifying regulatory developments.

• Tailored classification of current regulatory developments, aligned with your institution’s business model.
• Intelligent automation, genuine expertise: AIsupported content, but always professionally validated by Grant Thornton.
• Timely updates on the latest regulatory developments with an appropriate assessment of their relevance and the need for action for your institution.
• Overview of all relevant regulations and innovations for financial institutions based in Switzerland
• Expert tips on implementing regulatory requirements
• Reporting function for sharing insights