Single vs multi family office

Illustrative example; names are placeholders and the facts are invented. Family Office A GmbH is owned by two siblings and manages the assets of their parents, their spouses and their children, all family ties under the ordinance, so the Act does not apply (FinIA Art. 2(2)(a); FinIO Art. 4). A family friend asks the office to manage their portfolio too, for a fee. The friend has no family tie, so the office would be managing assets for others. Whether it does so on a commercial basis is measured by the thresholds in FinIO Art. 19; if it does, it needs FINMA's authorisation before it starts (FinIA Art. 5). Its lawyer confirms which applies.

The law's line. The Financial Institutions Act does not apply to persons who manage solely the assets of persons with whom they have business or family ties. (FinIA Art. 2(2)(a))

Family ties. Family ties include relatives in the direct line, relatives up to the fourth degree in the collateral line, spouses and registered partners, co-heirs until the estate is divided, and persons in a permanent life partnership with the manager. (FinIO Art. 4(1))

An office as a company. An office organised as a company is covered too where it is controlled by family members, or by a trust or foundation that a family member set up. Not-for-profit institutions among the beneficiaries do not change that. (FinIO Art. 4(2)-(3))

The other side. A portfolio manager manages assets on a commercial basis in the name and on behalf of clients. It needs FINMA's authorisation, and may be entered in the commercial register only once that has been granted. (FinIA Arts. 5 and 17(1))