THE Association Romande Des Intermédiaires

Version March 2019

APPLICATION FOR affiliation TO

THE Association romande des intermÉdiaires

financiers (ARIF)

(Directive 1)

This form can be completed electronically. However, the areas to be completed are formated and the quantities of text are limited. Supplementary text areas are available at the end of the form for all additions. Complete each page of this document, tick what is applicable ([space] key), and attach all the documents requested.

The undersigned, hereinafter the candidate :

Names, first names /
full corporate name
Principal address
Principal telephone no
Principal fax no
Principal email
Website
Name(s) of authorised signatory (signatories) of present application for affiliation / Name, first name / Direct phone or mobile phone

applies for affiliation to ARIF and to that effect provides hereinafter the documents and information, of which he certifies the accuracy and authenticity, being fully cognizant of the criminal provisions laid down in Art. 45 FINMASA that punish false information. By his signature, the candidate declares that he adheres fully and without reservation to the Articles of Association, Rules and Directives of ARIF (available on the site ), which he certifies having fully understood.

Authorised signatory (signatories)
Place : ...... / Date : ......

THE candidatE expressLY CERTIFIES AS FOLLOWS: (please TICK WHERE APPROPRIATE)

Not to have exercised any activity as a financial intermediary subject to the MLA prior to the filing of the present application.
To have already exercised an activity as a financial intermediary subject to the MLA since:
Date
while being affiliated to a self-regulating organisation (SRO) or the FINMA:
Name SRO - FINMA / Starting date of membership: / Ending date of membership:
To have already exercised an activity as a financial intermediary subject to the MLA prior to the filing of the present application without being affiliated to a self-regulating organisation (SRO) and without having obtained the authorisation to exercise from the FINMA:
Date

The candidate, who is not yet affiliated to a self-regulating organisation (SRO) and without authorisation to exercise from the FINMA, expressly undertakes not to exercise any activity as a financial intermediary subject to the MLA from the filing of the present application for affiliation until his admission to ARIF, or to another self-regulating organisation, or to the FINMA.

The candidate undertakes to notify ARIF immediately in writing of any changes affecting the accuracy and the completeness of the data communicated, hereinafter that might take place during the admission procedure or thereafter, during the entire period of his affiliation to ARIF, and to furnish ARIF immediately with the documents evidencing such changes.

1. INFORMATION RELATING TO THE candidatE

Please indicate if you exercise or will exercise your activity as: (please TICK WHERE APPROPRIATE)

Individual or collective firm not entered in an official register
Individual or collective firm entered in an official register
Company or other legal entity not entered in an official register
Company or other legal entity entered in an official register

In case you are entered in the Swiss Commercial Register or, failing this, in another official register subject to the supervision of a state authority in Switzerland or abroad, we kindly ask you to deliver to us:

 Its accurate electronic address and a reproduction of the data concerning you in case this register is freely and gratuitously accessible by Internet.

 In all other cases, an original extract of your registration, certified true, which is not older than three months.

Please indicate since when you have exercised or will exercise your activity subject to the MLA:

Please describe exactly your effective or planned commercial activity as a financial intermediary:

Please explain hereinafter the kind of intended professional activity, by specifying on which market(s) and with the cooperation of which possible auxiliaries it will be exercised.

Description of your present or future customers

Country names / % approx.
(contracting parties) / % approx.
(beneficial owners)
OECD
Outside OECD

If you start your activity with an existing goodwill, please indicate:

the number of your business relationships (contracting parties) subject to the MLA :
the percentage of all your business relationships which they represent :

Business sectors : (Please underline the main business)

1. Asset management (asset management, securities management, securities trading which is not subject to the LBVM – except investment companies)
2. Foreign exchange activities (exchange offices, hotels, petrol stations)
3. Trading in foreign exchange (forex)
4. Distribution of investment funds
5. Commodity or precious metal trading
6. Transport and deposit of valuables (transport of funds)
7. Fiduciary activities (administration of domiciliary companies – except trust)
8. Services relating to money clearing (including payment collection)
9. Credit, leasing, factoring, financing with fixed price (including mortgages)
10. Insurance brokerage
11. Activities of lawyers and notaries (including escrow agents)
12. Money transfer
13. Trust
14. Investment company

Are you affiliated to one or more professional association(s)? If yes, to which one(s)?

Please describe the internal organisation of your firm and, if it comprises more than five persons, provide in an annex a relational organisational chart specifying the name and function of each person:

Please indicate the existence, nature (holding, shareholding, consolidation, financing, family etc.) and the importance of your legal or business links with other natural persons and/or legal entities who/which exercise a dominant influence on your own or their activity, or with which/whom you form a group. If these links are complex, please attach a complete description.

Please indicate the identity of your controlling owners within the meaning of Art. 2 MLO-FINMA (the natural persons who control the company by holding, directly or indirectly, alone or in conjunction with third parties, a shareholding of at least 25% of the capital or the votes, or in another manner):

1. THE externAL MLA AUDITING FIRM AND LEAD AUDITORS

Your MLA auditing firm and its lead auditors must be accredited by ARIF (list available on Internet on the following link In order to be accredited by ARIF, the auditing firm must compulsorily:

1. possess specific professional knowledge in financial and MLA matters;
2. offer all guarantees of an irreproachable activity and enjoy a good reputation;
3. be independent of the financial intermediaries whom he audits;
4. be sufficiently well organized to conduct audits;
5. not engage in any activity subject to authorization by virtue of the laws governing the financial markets;
6. be authorized as an auditor. If the auditing firm is appointed to conduct audits relating to the ARIF Code of Deontology, it must hold a certification as an audit expert;
7. The auditing firm must have insurance cover against third-party liability risks covering financial damage of a minimum amount of CHF 250,000.-; this is without prejudice to higher amounts required by ARIF of certain auditors;
8. apply for accreditation by ARIF and to this effect file a complete dossier (list of requested documents available on the Internet site of ARIF

i.undertake to cooperate with ARIF and to transmit to it all useful information on the execution and the result of his audits.

In order to be approved by ARIF, the lead auditors must compulsorily:

1. benefit from an auditor’s certification issued by the Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA). If he is appointed to conduct audits relating to the ARIF Code of Deontology, the lead auditor must hold a certification as an audit expert;
2. have at all times the technical knowledge and experience necessary to conduct an audit in accordance with the laws governing the financial markets.

Your ARIF-accredited MLA auditing firm must provide ARIF with a letter certifying its acceptance of the mandate as an MLA auditing firm or, alternatively, complete the following statement :

Full corporate name
Name(s), first name(s) /
of the authorised auditor(s)
Address
Telephone no
Fax
Email
The Undersigned, MLA auditing firm accredited by ARIF, certifies the acceptance of the mandate as an MLA auditing firm for the financial intermediary submitting this application :
Authorised signature(s) and name of signatory (signatories) / Date / Stamp

3.THE internAL MLA Officer

You must immediately designate, amongst your firm’s bodies or your staff, one person (and his or her possible deputy) who must usually be present at the office of the principal place of business in Switzerland and will hold the responsibilities required by the ARIF Directive 7 relating to organisation and internal control.

Please provide us with the following information concerning your MLA Officer:

Name, first name
Direct phone
Mobile phone
Direct fax
Direct email
Special qualifications of this person in MLA matters or prudential supervision (professional experiences, trainings, further responsibilities performed in the past etc.):
Possible deputy (names, first names, direct telephone):
Possible recognised external specialist (name, address):

and deliver to us the personal documents concerning you MLA Officer designated in fig. 4 hereinafter.

1. information relatiNG to persons

Please complete the present page as often as necessary

You must provide a complete personal file for all your firm’s bodies (members of partnerships, managing members of limited liability companies, members of boards of directors or of foundation boards or of association committees and all other management members with general powers) and for all your subordinated employees, trainees and auxiliaries taking part in your business subject to the MLA, including your MLA Officer.

Are exempted from the obligation to provide a complete file:

-the members of partnerships or of limited liability companies, members of boards of directors or of foundation boards or of association committees, composed of at least ten persons, and only with regard to those persons having neither any operational activity, nor any power of signature;

-the non-managing members of limited liability companies having neither any operational activity, nor any power of signature.

Please provide for each of these persons the following information:

Name, first name
Position in the company
Since

Please provide for each of these persons all the following documents:

 Ordinary copy of a valid passport or identity card.

 Ordinary copy of the residence permit (for foreigners domiciled in Switzerland) or of the work permit (for cross-border workers).

 original extract from the criminal records of the country of residence, not older than six months.

 curriculum vitae in original form, dated and signed by the person concerned, containing at least his private address, his education and his professional career. (If undated, the document is deemed to be dated on the day of its receipt by the secretariat)

 simple copy of diplomas *

 simple copy of certificates of employment *

 the original copy of the attestation of absence of any proceedings as notified on next page.

* or, failing this, a written, dated and undersigned attestation on honour explaining this default

Please complete the present page as often as necessary

Please certify, by signing the present paragraph, that neither in Switzerland, nor abroad:
- you have ever been condemned or are presently the subject-matter of any proceedings of a criminal or disciplinary character, regardless of whether they are of a judicial or administrative nature, due to facts in connection with your professional activity (e.g. prohibition or withdrawal of the authorization to exercise a professional activity, exclusion from a SRO etc.) or due to acts constituting a crime within the meaning of Swiss law;
- this concerns all proceedings initiated against the undersigned personally, or against a corporate entity over which the undersigned can, or was able to, exert a significant influence, in particular in the capacity of a member of the board of directors, an executive or a member of the management;
- the impeccable management of the undertakings of which you have been the employee or body has ever been called into question by a financial market supervisory authority (e.g. FINMA, SFBC, SRO and equivalent foreign authorities) due to acts attributable to you.
Name, First name
Signature / Place / Date
In the case of any facts, acts, proceedings or convictions which may not be entirely compatible with the certification stated hereinbefore or could be relevant in an economical respect or from the point of view of the reputation or the guarantee of the impeccable management of a bank or of a securities dealer, we ask you to indicate their content precisely and to provide all documents as well as means of information allowing an accurate assessment of their impact.

1. InFORMATION RELATING TO PERSONS DOMICILED ABROAD

Permanent domicile of the undertaking’s actors

If one or several managers or staff members of your structure, taking part in your business subject to the MLA, are not permanently domiciled in Switzerland or in its near border area, we kindly ask you to specify this to us and to explain his/her/ their precise role in the course of business of the company.

6.INDICATIONS RELATING TO IN-HOUSE COMPANIES

Definition: “In-house companies” are taken to mean legal entities which, cumulatively:

- participate in your company's business that is subject to the MLA, or provide your clients with services related to financial intermediation; and

- are dominated by the same persons as those dominating your structure, be they de jure or de facto organs, shareholders, or persons closely related to them, or persons acting in a fiduciary capacity for their account.

The role of such in-house companies can be very varied: it may involve holding rights, issuing commercial documents, functioning as an organ, trustee, acting as a contractual counterparty, etc.

If there is/are one or more in-house companies as defined above which participate in your company’s business that is subject to the MLA or in that of your clients, please state the following information for each of them: (it can be provided on an attached sheet)

Company name :
Full address of the registered office (and principal business establishment, if different) :
Name and address of the persons acting as de jure or de facto organs of these in house companies :
Activities conducted for the account of your company or your clients :

7.MLA Organisation

As an applicant for ARIF membership you must have as of now an internal organisation guaranteeing the irreproachable character of your activities subject to the MLA, and their conformity with the law and ARIF’s Articles of Association, Rules and Directives.

Even if the firm has only one person involved in the business subject to the MLA, the financial intermediary must draw up internal directives in writing concerning the organisation and internal control in MLA matters. A checklist with all the necessary minimal provisions is available on the ARIF website : .

Your auditing firm must certify by his signature hereafter that your internal directives do exist and are compliant with the provisions of the law and of ARIF’s Articles of Association, Rules and Directives.

Name or full corporate name of the MLA auditing firm
Signature of the MLA auditing firm / Place / Date

8.CODE OF DEONTOLOGY (directive 14) CONCERNING THE EXERCISE OF THE PROFESSION OF INDEPENDENT ASSET MANAGER OR INVESTMENT ADVISER:

Please answer the following questions: (please tick where appropriate)

A / The candidate does not exercise any activity as an asset manager or investment adviser.
(the adherence to the Code of Deontology is not possible)
B / The candidate exercises an activity as an asset manager or investment adviser, but does not purchase or recommend any shares in collective investments for/to his or her customers.
(the adherence to the Code of Deontology is not compulsory, but optional; tick box E if applicable)
C / The candidate exercises an activity as an asset manager or investment adviser, he or she purchases or recommends shares in collective investments exclusively for/to qualified investors regulated by the FINMA as defined in Article 10 paragraph 3 letters a and b CISA.
(The adherence to the Code of Deontology is not compulsory, but voluntary; tick box E if applicable)
D / The candidate exercises an activity as an asset manager or investment adviser, he or she purchases or recommends shares in collective investments for/to his or her customers considered as non-regulated qualified investors or non-qualified investors.
(The adherence to the Code of Deontology is compulsory)

Note : the compulsory subjection to ARIF’s Code of Deontology will continue as long as your membership in ARIF will subsist and the activity will last because of which you are obliged by law to submit to such rules of conduct.

E / The candidate exercises an activity as an asset manager or investment adviser and wishes to adhere voluntarily to the Code of Deontology.

Note : the voluntary subjection to ARIF’s Code of Deontology cannot be revoked before the end of the audit period during which it has been declared.

Any subjected activity of a member subject to the Code of Deontology – regardless of whether compulsorily or voluntarily – must give rise to an audit in accordance with ARIF’s Directives.

By answering yes to at least one of questions D and E hereinbefore, the candidate expresses his intent to submit fully and without reserve to ARIF’S Code of Deontology (available on the Internet site of ARIF

9.ARIF’s WEBsite

The applicant requests that his corporate name and place of business

Be / Be not

please tick where appropriate)

accessible to the public on the Internet site of ARIF (

10.How did you GET TO know arif?

Lawyer / Notary / Auditing firm / Recommendation by a member financial intermediary
Internet / Leaflet / Advertising
Bank / Other : ......

11.MISCELLANEOUS PARTNERSHIPS

1. FER-GENEVA (concerns only candidates domiciled in the Canton of Geneva)

As a collective member of the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes (FER), ARIF has negotiated a preferential rate with FER Geneva that allows ARIF’s Geneva members to benefit, as members of the latter, from all the services and advantages provided by FER to its individual members, subject to payment of a reduced annual membership fee, which represents a saving of CHF 50.- compared with an individual membership fee.

In order to benefit from this preferential rate, ARIF itself has to collect from its members the membership fee payable to FER.

I am already a member of FER Geneva and wish to benefit from this preferential rate
I am not yet a member of FER Geneva but wish to benefit from this preferential rate
I am not interested

1. Thomson-Reuters / WORLD-CHECK

Thomson-Reuters/World-Check has built up a substantial database which it is probably advantageous to consult when, as a financial intermediary, identification of a new contracting party or a new beneficial owner, or even a subsequent verification concerning an existing client, do not prove to be conclusive enough with the usual means.