Opening an insurance brokerage in Geneva is not decided by the legal form. It starts with a statutory classification: are you a tied or an untied insurance intermediary? Since the revised Insurance Supervision Act came into force on 1 January 2024, only untied intermediaries are entered in the FINMA register, and they may carry on their activity only if they are registered.
That independence is a definition rather than a commercial stance: untied intermediaries have a relationship of loyalty with policyholders and act in their interest. An arrangement that hollows out that position does not create an image problem, it removes the classification on which the registration rests. RISTER® settles that point before incorporation, then administers the firm once it is running.
Contents
Tied or untied: classification first
The act opens with a deliberately broad definition: an insurance intermediary is any person who, whatever their designation, offers or concludes insurance contracts in the interest of an insurance undertaking or of another person. No commercial title shelters anyone, since the text expressly sets the designation aside.
The dividing line follows, and it describes a position rather than a list of formal criteria. Untied insurance intermediaries have a relationship of loyalty with policyholders and act in their interest; all other insurance intermediaries are considered tied.
| Item | Untied | Tied |
|---|---|---|
| Legal position | Loyalty towards the policyholder, acts in their interest | Any other situation |
| FINMA register | Registration compulsory, the right to operate depends on it | In principle no longer registered |
| Combining both statuses | Prohibited by law | |
| Third-party remuneration | Must disclose amounts received from insurers or other third parties | General duty to inform |
| Annual report to FINMA | Required | Not concerned |
Two practical consequences follow. The first changed how the register reads: tied intermediaries are in principle no longer listed, so an absent entry no longer means what it meant before 2024 to a client who checks. The second is the prohibition on combining: a firm serving some clients independently and others under a mandate from an insurer is not running a mixed model, it is in breach. Two sister companies run by the same people do not settle the question either.
The act closes the chain on both sides: acting for insurance undertakings that are not authorised is prohibited, and insurance undertakings may not work with unregistered intermediaries.
The four conditions for entry in the register
Registration is not a declaration filed after starting: untied intermediaries may carry on their activity only if they are registered. Four cumulative conditions govern it.
- A registered office, domicile or branch in Switzerland. A foreign firm intending to serve Swiss policyholders must create that anchor before anything else.
- A good reputation, and guarantees that the obligations arising from the act will be complied with.
- The necessary capabilities and knowledge or, for an employer, enough employees who satisfy that requirement. A firm does not need every member of staff to be qualified, but it must have enough who are, and it must track them individually.
- Professional indemnity insurance, or equivalent financial guarantees.
The third condition sets the timetable, because it runs through an examination.
Training, accreditation exam and recertification
The act leaves insurance undertakings and intermediaries to define minimum standards of initial and continuing training by branch, with the Federal Council setting the requirements failing that. Those minimum standards entered into force on 1 October 2024, carried by the Swiss association for vocational training in insurance.
The mechanism has two stages. The intermediary first passes an accreditation examination, offered in several profiles: passing it is a precondition for carrying on intermediary activity in the insurance branch concerned. A recertification examination follows, all intermediaries being called to these online checks every two years.
The examination session sets the opening date, not the other way round. Passing the accreditation exam conditions activity in the branch concerned, and entry in the register conditions the right to act as an untied intermediary. A project that starts by signing brokerage mandates and intends to regularise afterwards is running in the wrong order. We do not support arrangements designed to work around that sequence, and where your situation sits on the boundary of the definitions, consult FINMA or a specialist lawyer before contracting.
What registration costs
The revision introduced an annual supervisory levy that did not exist before for registered intermediaries.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| One-off registration, natural person | CHF 350 |
| One-off registration, legal entity | CHF 750 |
| Annual supervisory levy, amount set for 2024 | CHF 475 |
These amounts are not the real cost of a launch. The burden sits in training, in professional indemnity cover and in building the client documentation. The procedure runs through the FINMA platform, and untied intermediaries must then report annually to the authority. No processing time can be announced: it depends on how complete the file is.
Your brokerage in Geneva
Classification first, company second
Analysis of the tied or untied status against your remuneration model, legal form and drafting of the corporate purpose, incorporation and entry in the commercial register, coordination of the registration file and of the professional indemnity cover, accounting, VAT and payroll for the firm: RISTER® runs the project in the order that suits it.
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RISTER – Fiduciary in Geneva, reply within one business day.
The Geneva company: form, purpose, governance
The choice of form follows the usual logic, with one nuance specific to the profession. A sole proprietorship requires no capital and enters the commercial register once annual receipts reach CHF 100,000, but it leaves personal assets exposed, which weighs in an advisory activity carrying professional liability. A limited liability company requires CHF 20,000 of fully paid-in capital and suits most firms. A company limited by shares requires CHF 100,000, at least CHF 50,000 paid in, and becomes the obvious choice where several partners come in or a sale of the portfolio is contemplated. We handle the incorporation as part of our company incorporation service in Geneva.
The corporate purpose deserves more attention than it usually gets. It must describe insurance intermediation as it will actually be carried on, without adding activities that fall under other regimes for convenience: investment advice and asset management have their own legislation and their own authorisations, as our guide to setting up an asset management company in Geneva sets out. A purpose drafted too broadly creates the appearance of an unauthorised activity, and correcting it later requires a notarial deed.
Then there is the governance of competence. Because the act lets an employer satisfy the capability requirement by having enough qualified employees, the departure of a key person can weaken the firm’s registration. That is tracked, and anticipated in the training plan.
Client information and disclosure of remuneration
Before the contract is concluded, the intermediary informs the policyholder on specific points: name and address, the type of intermediation carried on, stating whether they are tied or untied and, where applicable, naming the insurance undertakings for which they act, how to access information on their training, the identity of the person liable in the event of fault, and the processing of data.
For untied intermediaries a further obligation goes to the heart of the model: disclosing remuneration received from insurance undertakings or other third parties. This is where the coherence of the classification is tested. An intermediary presenting themselves as untied, and therefore acting in the policyholder’s interest, while receiving undisclosed remuneration from an insurer, contradicts the definition on which their registration rests. The issue goes beyond ethics: the classification itself becomes unstable, and with it the right to operate.
The pitfalls that remove the classification
The first is disguised combination: serving some clients independently and others under an insurer’s mandate. The prohibition is express, and a second entity does not get round it.
The second is the commercial arrangement that empties independence of substance: de facto exclusivity, volume targets, remuneration conditioned on placing a product. None is unlawful on its own, but together they contradict the position of loyalty towards the policyholder.
The third is forgetting to disclose remuneration, often out of habit from a market where it was not required before the revision.
The fourth is starting before registration, or in a branch for which the accreditation exam has not been passed.
The fifth concerns professional indemnity cover: a policy taken out late, or whose limits and exclusions have not been tested against the risks actually placed, does not meet the statutory condition robustly.
FAQ: setting up an insurance brokerage in Geneva
Does a brokerage need FINMA authorisation?
Not an authorisation in the sense that applies to insurance undertakings, but entry in the FINMA register, compulsory for untied intermediaries, who may carry on their activity only if registered. Since the revision of the act, tied intermediaries are in principle no longer entered in the register.
How do I know whether I am tied or untied?
The act describes a position rather than a contractual form: untied intermediaries have a relationship of loyalty with policyholders and act in their interest, all others being considered tied. An exclusivity agreement, volume targets or remuneration conditioned on placing a product all shift that position. Combining the two statuses is in any event prohibited.
What conditions must be met for registration?
Four cumulative conditions: a registered office, domicile or branch in Switzerland; a good reputation and guarantees that the obligations under the act will be complied with; the necessary capabilities and knowledge or, for an employer, enough employees who satisfy that requirement; and professional indemnity insurance or equivalent financial guarantees.
What are the registration fees?
CHF 350 for natural persons and CHF 750 for legal entities as a one-off registration fee. Since 1 January 2024, registered intermediaries also pay an annual supervisory levy, set at CHF 475 for 2024. Training and professional indemnity cover come on top.
What training is required?
The minimum training standards entered into force on 1 October 2024. The intermediary must pass an accreditation examination, offered in several profiles, and passing it is a precondition for operating in the branch concerned, followed by a recertification examination, with all intermediaries called to these online checks every two years.
Must a broker disclose commissions paid by insurers?
Untied intermediaries must inform clients of remuneration received from insurance undertakings or other third parties. This adds to the general duty covering the intermediary’s name and address, the type of intermediation, access to information on training, the identity of the person liable in the event of fault, and the processing of data.
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Conclusion
Setting up an insurance brokerage in Geneva comes down to a chain in which each link commands the next. The tied or untied classification determines the registration requirement. Registration requires a Swiss anchor, a good reputation, capabilities validated by an accreditation exam and professional indemnity cover. And keeping the classification then depends on the consistency between the remuneration model and the independence claimed. Legal form and capital, which take up most of the first conversations, come afterwards.
RISTER – Fiduciary in Geneva frames the classification and the corporate purpose before incorporation, handles the company and its entry in the commercial register, then the firm’s accounting, VAT and payroll as part of our general administration, accounting and payroll service. We only take on projects that stand up over time, and we say so when a step is missing. To discuss yours, get in touch.
