Yes, client advisors of domestic financial service providers who are supervised within the meaning of Art. 3 FINMA Act, as well as client advisors of foreign financial service providers, may only carry out their activities in Switzerland once they have been entered in a register of advisors.

The obligation to register applies only to the client advisors themselves, not their employers.
The advisor register contains information on the client advisor, the financial service provider for whom he works, the fields of activity, the training and further education completed by the client advisor and the ombudsman to whom the advisor or the financial service provider for whom he works is affiliated (Art. 30 FIDLEG). In this way, a customer can obtain information about a customer advisor. Since client advisors subject to registration are prohibited from exercising financial services without registration, the advisor register creates a control function.

Client advisors are only entered in the advisor register if they meet the relevant entry requirements. In addition to proof that they have undergone relevant training and have provided sufficient financial guarantees, whether through professional indemnity insurance or other equivalent financial guarantees, the financial service provider for whom they work must also be affiliated to an ombudsman pursuant to Article 74 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations.

Client advisors may only be entered in the advisor register if they have not been convicted under criminal law of an infringement of Art. 86 and 86a ISA, of criminal offences against assets (Art. 137-172ter StGB) or entered in the criminal register on the basis of the criminal provisions of the FIDLEG.

Pursuant to Art. 31 para. 1 FIDLEG, the keeping of the advisor register is the responsibility of the registration office approved by FINMA.