Federal Act
on Financial Institutions
(Financial Institutions Act, FinIA)

A se­cur­it­ies firm is an en­tity that, on a com­mer­cial basis:

a.

trades in se­cur­it­ies in its own name for the ac­count of cli­ents;

b.

trades in se­cur­it­ies for its own ac­count on a short-term basis, op­er­ates primar­ily on the fin­an­cial mar­ket and:

1.

could thereby jeop­ard­ise the prop­er func­tion­ing of the fin­an­cial mar­ket, or

2.

is a mem­ber of a trad­ing ven­ue, or

3.²²

op­er­ates an or­gan­ised trad­ing fa­cil­ity un­der Art­icle 42 of the Fin­an­cial Mar­ket In­fra­struc­ture Act of 19 June 2015²³; or

c.

trades in se­cur­it­ies for its own ac­count on a short-term basis and pub­licly quotes prices for in­di­vidu­al se­cur­it­ies upon re­quest or on an on­go­ing basis (mar­ket maker).