2: Stock Exchanges
Art. 3 License
1 Whoever wishes to operate a stock exchange requires a license from the Supervisory Authority.
2 The license will be granted if:
a. the stock exchange guarantees, through its business rules and organisation, the fulfilment of the duties arising under this law;
b. the stock exchange and its responsible employees can demonstrate the necessary specialised knowledge and guarantee the orderly conduct of business operations;
c. its governing bodies comply with the minimum requirements which the Federal Council may la down.
3 The Federal Council shall lay down the conditions for the granting of a license which foreign stock exchanges shall fulfil if they wish to be active in Switzerland, but have no registered office here.
4 It may, in part or in full, subject to the law institutions which are similar to stock exchanges, or conversely, exempt certain stock exchanges or institutions similar to stock exchanges from the law, whenever the purpose of the law justifies it.
5 Should the conditions for the granting of a license change subsequently, the approval of the Supervisory Authority is to be obtained for the continuation of business activities.
Art. 4 Self-regulation
1 A stock exchange shall ensure its own operational, administrative and supervisory organisation appropriate to its activity.
2 It shall submit its business rules and modifications thereof to the Supervisory Authority for approval.
Art. 5 Organisation of trading
1 The stock exchange shall issue rules concerning the organisation of effective and transparent trading.
2 It shall maintain a journal in the form of a chronological list of all transactions effected over the exchange and those reported to it. It shall contain details of the time, the dealers involved, securities, number or nominal value and price of the securities traded.
3 The stock exchange shall ensure that all data which is necessary for the transparency of trading is made public. This applies to such details as price information about the security trades and the turnover in listed and over-the-counter securities as well as the identification of companies for which the requirement to make a bid pursuant to Art. 32 and 52 is inapplicable or for which the marginal threshold was increased to over 33 1/3 percent.
Art. 6 Supervision of trading
1 The stock exchange shall supervise the fixing of prices, the conclusion and settlement of transactions in a manner that the taking advantage of knowledge of confidential facts, price rigging and other violations of law may be discovered.
2 In case of suspicion of violations of the law or other misdemeanours, the stock exchange shall inform the Supervisory Authority. This latter shall order the necessary investigations.
Art. 7 Admission of security dealers
The stock exchange shall issue rules concerning the admission of, the duties and exclusion of security dealers and in doing so, shall respect in particular the principle of equal treatment.
Art. 8 Admission of securities
1 The stock exchange shall issue rules concerning the admission of securities to trading.
2 The rules shall contain provisions concerning the marketability of securities and lay down which information is necessary for the assessment by the investors of the characteristics of the securities and the quality of the issuers.
3 Internationally accepted standards shall be taken into consideration.
4 The stock exchange shall grant admission if the requirements of the rules are fulfilled.
Art. 9 Appeal body
1 The stock exchange shall establish an independent appeal body, which receives appeals in the case that a security dealer or a security is refused admission as well as in the case that a security dealer is expelled or the permission to admit a security is revoked. It shall establish rules governing its organisation and procedures.
2 The organisational structure, provisions governing its procedures and the appointment of its members require the consent of the Supervisory Authority.
3 Once the appeal proceedings are completed, an appeal to the civil court remains reserved.
KPMG Fides Unofficial Translation of Swiss Federal Stock Exchange Law
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