Anyone submitting a public offer to purchase securities in Switzerland or requesting the admission of securities to trading on a stock exchange pursuant to Art. 26 FMIA must first publish a prospectus.
The examination of the prospectuses is the responsibility of a Review Office (reviewing body) approved by FINMA in accordance with Art. 52 FinSA. It checks it for completeness, coherence and comprehensibility.
shall review the prospectus without delay upon receipt;
may require the prospectus to be amended if it finds that it does not comply with the legal requirements;
may, upon request, decide on certain preliminary decisions and exceptions;
maintains a list of foreign trading venues, jurisdictions and accounting standards generally accepted by it;
deposits the prospectus (incl. supplements and amendments) approved by it in physical or electronic form; and
may publish the prospectus and the supplements thereto in electronic form on its website upon request.
Art. 109 FinSO provides that a prospectus for securities offered to the public in Switzerland or admitted to trading on a trading venue must be published no later than six months after the authorisation of a Prospectus Review Office by FINMA, i.e. from 1 December 2020.
As of 1 June 2020, FINMA has granted the following companies authorisation as prospectus review offices:
BX Swiss AG (regservices.ch)
SIX Exchange Regulation AG
