By CARLO BOFFA, EU Correspondent
The Swiss financial watchdog has moved to withdraw the licence of disgraced investment firm Wendelspiess Partners and imposed long-term industry bans on two responsible individuals.
FINMA said it concluded an investigation into the firm that revealed serious breaches of its obligations regarding the handling of conflicts of interest and rules governing the provision of financial services.
The agency discovered evidence suggesting that the firm’s clients were invested in a foreign fund established by the firm and managed in-house since 2021, which was under severe liquidity strain
Wendelspiess and several of its directors held shares in the fund, something the fund’s clients were not informed about. Moreover, the fund was not sufficiently diversified, leading to concentration risks
The 83-million-Swiss franc ($105 million) fund invested predominantly in an investment company based in the Swiss canton of Zug and related companies, while also granting them loans.
“In FINMA’s view, the more than 400 clients of Wendelspiess Partners AG – most of whom had only moderate to limited financial knowledge and many of whom described themselves as risk-averse – were not adequately informed about the risks involved in investing in the fund,” the watchdog said.
As a result, Wendelspiess, which is in liquidation and has been declared bankrupt, will have its licence as a portfolio manager withdrawn. The ruling is not yet final and may be appealed to the Federal Administrative Cour
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