Insights · Regulatory compliance
Regulatory complianceThe FINMA connection: what your Swiss financial advisor should disclose
A LEI is not a licence. Here is how to read FINMA authorisation, what deposit protection covers — and what it does not.
4 September 2026 · Helfenstein Editorial Team · 11 min read
Last reviewed 17 September 2026
FINMA is Switzerland’s financial-market supervisor. Firms that manage portfolios or provide certain financial services must be authorised and, for portfolio managers, supervised day to day by a recognised supervisory organisation. Websites often say “Swiss regulatory compliance”. The useful question is: which licence, which number, and can you open the register yourself?
Proof is not a logo. Proof is an entry you can find on finma.ch, with a matching legal name, UID and — for a portfolio manager — an authorisation number and a supervisory organisation.
Types of FINMA authorisation
A bank licence is rare and comes with capital, liquidity and deposit-protection rules. An asset-manager or portfolio-manager authorisation is the relevant status for most independent advisers who run discretionary mandates. Collective-scheme managers and securities firms sit in other boxes. “Fiduciary” in everyday speech is not a FINMA category; discretionary versus advisory authority is a mandate question, not a substitute for a licence.
Helfenstein Asset Management AG is listed by FINMA as an authorised portfolio manager (No. CH-111.708.730, decision 12.01.2022) and supervised by OSFINcontrol AG (OSFIN-111.708.730). Those numbers are meant to be checked, not believed on sight.
The licence-number game
A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a global ID used in reporting. It is not a regulatory licence. Many firms display a LEI because it looks official. It does not tell you that FINMA has authorised the firm to manage your portfolio.
“Registered with FINMA” without a number is a phrase to slow down for. Look the legal name up on the official register. Match the address. If the site uses a trading name, confirm it maps to the authorised entity. If you cannot find the row, ask for the authorisation letter before you transfer assets or sign a mandate.
What happens if things go wrong?
Swiss deposit protection (esisuisse) covers eligible bank deposits, generally up to CHF 100,000 per client per bank. It does not cover securities the same way, and it does not cover an adviser’s professional errors. Portfolio-manager clients are not in a bank compensation scheme for bad advice.
Conduct complaints that cannot be resolved with the firm can go to the ombudsman — for Helfenstein, Finanzombudsstelle Schweiz (FINOS). That is mediation, not a guarantee of restitution. Cross-border enforcement, if the other party is abroad, is slower and less certain than a domestic court file.
Verification checklist
Ask for the licence or authorisation number in writing. Open the FINMA register. Confirm the registered address is a real office, not only a mail drop. Confirm the scope: advisory, discretionary management, or both — and that it matches what you are being offered.
Keep a screenshot of the register entry with the date you checked it.
Schedule a regulatory compliance review
General information only. Nothing on this page constitutes personalised investment, tax or legal advice. Helfenstein Group does not hold client assets; all custody stays with the bank you choose, under your control. Decisions should be based on your own circumstances and, where appropriate, on a written analysis from a qualified adviser.