FINMA stories

FINMA is the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, an entity part of the federal government. When you see FINMA on the news, it means the compliance of people and organizations with financial laws is being investigated.
I have no horse in this race. Anyway, stories of financial misconduct are fascinating since they reveal a lot about human nature.

As first post, there are news today about two companies investigated by FINMA: real estate startup Le Bijou Holding and the fund Moonshot Ventures. Sadly, I cannot afford a subscription to the Handelszeitung, so all I can share from journalist sources is a headline.

But, there are public sources such as this website from the Swiss government that compiles info from all cantonal commerce registries. FINMA had taken control of Moonshot Ventures at the end of Sep 2024. Also took control of Le Bijou Holding at the end of October 2024.

Why do I care? Because both companies showed up in my social media feeds 2 or 3 years ago, meaning they paid for marketing targeted at retail investors. So, it’s possible that a lot of people may be losing sleep over this.

This is a developing story, more details will come up soon. For the moment, a video from happier times:

Happier times? He doesn’t know where they had all the information from regarding his personal preferences and needs?
That would scare the shit out of me :rofl:
Maybe it’s not FINMA but the data protection official who should take a close look at Le Bijou.

Strange only the Handelszeitung is reporting on this. Ich checked as well as I think this information should be accessed by the public.

Interesting things are happening behind closed doors. The story continues after a week, blick.ch links to this blog. tippinpoint.ch. It’s some news from a tenant in Bern being asked for the keys of a property rented to the company(ies) under investigation.

I guess renting commercial property does not have the same level of protection for tenants as renting a place to live.

Finma employees have executive power?!

An owner of a flat can’t even just take off the keys of a tenant and kick them out. Not to mention threaten them!

Very weird story.

Even if Moonshot isn’t the rightful owner and doesn’t represent them, it is still undeniably in the actual owner’s interest (and everybody else’s) that the rent/lease payments continue to flow and therefore that the restaurant opens as planned.

And of course, as curley mentioned, there’s the question of executive power. It might made for a very interesting story if she’d called the police to report him for trespassing, and have him held in place until they arrive.

It is weird. I don’t see myself kicked out of the apartment just because the landlord was allegedly involved in financial misconduct.

Anyway, the events and the investigation are unfolding in real-time.

It seems journalism blogs work. There is a press release from FINMA:.

Apparently, the issue is selling unregistered securities to non-qualified investors in Switzerland. An example of an unregistered security is a bond not registered in any public exchange. The definition of individual qualified investor is having 2 million francs in net financial investments. Non-qualified is less than 2 million.

there is a strong suspicion that the persons involved in the proceedings as a group have carried out several activities that are prohibited under financial market law without the necessary authorisations, namely activities as a securities firm and as a derivatives house, the acceptance of public deposits and the corresponding advertising for this, and the issuing of structured products.

What about the restaurant in Bern? The plot thickens, there is no rental agreement, it’s only a sublease. So, what are the rights of people subrenting?

The “Supernova” restaurant project, which has been mentioned several times in the media, is located in the property at Schauplatzgasse 22 in Bern. This property is owned by OCSP AG, which is a company affected by the enforcement proceedings. There is a specific suspicion that the purchase of this property was financed with funds from an activity that is prohibited under financial market law. Contrary to the representation sometimes spread in the media, there is no rental agreement between the operator of the “Supernova” restaurant and the owner of the property. Instead, the operator of the restaurant bases her claims on a sublease agreement between her and a natural person directly affected by the current enforcement proceedings. FINMA has concrete evidence that the sublease agreement may have been concluded illegally.

The symbolism here
I have no words. I can only quote the wiki:

A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star
The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or a black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula.

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That would explain why the restaurant had to be closed immediately. If the main renter loses the contract, the sublease can no longer be fulfilled. Plus, it seems to have been a verbal agreement only. For four floors! Calling that naive doesn’t do her justice.

What a strange sentence. How can one have concrete evidence something “may” have happened. Either the evidence is solid or it is not.

Why? The evidence might be something like a written contract, but you need a definitive verdict to make the suspected crime a certainty.

There is a difference between the word “concrete” and “solid”

Automated translation from this sentence:

Dabei verfĂŒgt die FINMA ĂŒber konkrete Anhaltspunkte, wonach der Untermietvertrag unrechtmĂ€ssig zustande gekommen sein könnte.

Anyway, my basic knowledge of German tells me the “sein könnte” still crashes with “konkrete Anhaltspunkte”.

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It doesn’t crash. The problem is you (or some bot) translated “Anhaltspunkte” with evidence when it is ‘indications’/‘clues’.
‘Finma has concrete clues available/at hand which indicate the subletting contract may have/could have been concluded illegitimatly’

I even gave you a choice or two to please your ear which ever way desired.

My conclusion out of this: I’m not worried about bots and KI :smiley:

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