Introduction
On 16 September 2026, the Swiss National Council voted for an amendment to the Swiss Insurance Supervision Act ("ISA") exempting, in particular, untied reinsurance intermediaries from mandatory registration and supervision by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA ("FINMA") This follows on from the preceding positive vote of the Swiss Council of States. The exemption from the scope of the ISA refers to both untied and tied insurance intermediaries based in Switzerland or abroad – to the extent that they intermediate reinsurance business. The amendment aims to eliminate existing competitive disadvantages for Swiss (re-)insurance undertakings that have been directly (e.g., regarding their responsibilities for compliance with the rules of conduct of tied intermediaries) or indirectly (e.g., relating to the registration requirement for untied intermediaries) affected.
Background
The partial revision of the ISA, which entered into force on 1 January 2024, tightened the regulatory and supervisory framework for (re-)insurance intermediaries. The amended ISA expressly prohibited (re-)insurance undertakings from cooperating with (re-)insurance intermediaries that lack the required registration with the insurance intermediary register of FINMA (Art. 44 para. 2 ISA). Specifically, highly specialised foreign untied reinsurance intermediaries engaged on a case-by-case basis often do not hold the required FINMA registration.
The mandatory registration requirement and cooperation prohibition have the following specific implications for reinsurance business in Switzerland:
- Competitive disadvantage for Swiss reinsurers: Swiss (re-)insurance undertakings as cedents / retrocedents were not permitted to purchase reinsurance cover from Swiss reinsurers through the intermediation of non-registered untied insurance intermediaries subject to the mandatory FINMA registration. In contrast, the intermediation of reinsurance cover provided by foreign reinsurers has always been outside the scope of the ISA. This is because reinsurance business of foreign reinsurers has not been subject to the ISA licence requirement and consequently, following the principle of a maiore ad minus, the intermediation of such reinsurance business has also been beyond the remit of the ISA.
- Restricted choice of reinsurance intermediaries for Swiss (re-)insurance undertakings: Swiss cedents could not retain such non-registered untied reinsurance intermediaries for purchasing reinsurance cover from Swiss reinsurers. This limits their choice of reinsurance intermediaries, in particular foreign ones.
These regulatory restrictions have led to reinsurance business with Swiss cedents shifting abroad as observed by industry participants. The newly amended law aims to address this issue by exempting insurance intermediation from the scope of the ISA to the extent that reinsurance business is being intermediated. It also considers the lack of a requirement for client protection in reinsurance business compared with direct insurance business: all parties of a reinsurance arrangement (cedent / retrocedent and reinsurer / retrocessionaire) are professional actors who are not in need of any consumer protection.
The Amendment: Exemption of Intermediation of Reinsurance Business
The new art. 2 para. 2 lit. g ISA exempts insurance intermediaries from the scope of the ISA to the extent that they intermediate reinsurance business. The exemption applies to both untied and tied intermediaries based in Switzerland or abroad and has the following specific implications:
- Removal of mandatory registration with FINMA and other ISA requirements: Untied intermediaries, to the extent that they are intermediating reinsurance business only, will no longer be subject to mandatory registration with FINMA and FINMA supervision. To this extent, both untied and tied reinsurance intermediaries will be exempt from other applicable regulatory requirements under the ISA. These include, in particular, requirements concerning good reputation and assurance of compliance with ISA obligations, the necessary skills and knowledge, professional indemnity insurance, information duties and the management of conflicts of interest. The Swiss Federal Council expects and relies on professional market participants to take responsibility for maintaining the quality of reinsurance intermediation.
- Cooperation with unregistered (untied) reinsurance intermediaries: With mandatory FINMA registration no longer required, Swiss cedents will be able to retain non-registered untied reinsurance intermediaries to purchase reinsurance cover from Swiss reinsurers. This is intended to remove both the above-mentioned restrictions on the competitive disadvantage faced by Swiss reinsurers and the choice by Swiss cedents of insurance intermediaries for reinsurance cover by Swiss reinsurers.
The exemption is limited to the intermediation of reinsurance business. Any direct insurance intermediation, e.g., conducted in parallel, remains in principle subject to the ISA. Swiss reinsurers themselves also remain subject to supervision according to the ISA.
Should intermediaries intermediating reinsurance business require a Swiss register entry for their activities abroad, they may still apply for a voluntary FINMA registration (see art. 42 para. 4 ISA), and in such case will be subject to the applicable registration requirements and FINMA supervision.
Further Minor Amendments
The amendments to the ISA also include certain further changes unrelated to the intermediation of reinsurance business. In particular, a provision on the restructuring regime currently set out in the Swiss Insurance Supervision Ordinance is to be elevated to the statutory level of the ISA to enhance legal certainty, alongside a few other minor clarifications. In addition, there is to be a correction of a terminological inconsistency concerning the regulation of the responsible actuary.
Next Steps and Limitations
- Final adoption and entry into force: Following the final positive votes in the assemblies of both chambers of the Swiss Parliament scheduled for 2 October 2026, and if no referendum is requested – which is the likely scenario –, the amendments are expected to enter into force on a date to be determined by the Swiss Federal Council, probably in early 2027. Until the entry into force of the amendments, the existing registration and supervisory requirements remain applicable.
- No extension to direct insurance intermediation: The Swiss Federal Council has refrained from extending the deregulation agenda to direct insurance intermediation for professional policyholders only (see art. 98a para. 2 of the Swiss Insurance Contract Act). This group includes prudentially supervised financial institutions, pension institutions, public-law-entities such as municipalities, and qualifying small and medium-sized companies that in our view would arguably not be in need of consumer protection either. However, the Swiss Federal Council considered that existing law already adequately reflects their reduced need for protection.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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