As of 1 January 2020 the Financial Services Act and the Financial Institutions Act came into force in Switzerland, providing Switzerland with modern investor protection. In order to be able to continue to grow in the investment management business in the future, it is essential for the client Raiffeisenbank Aare-Reuss to understand what influence the laws have on the bank. Therefore, this Bachelor Thesis deals with the following central question: How do FinSA and FinIA influence the investment management business at Raiffeisenbank Aare-Reuss?

In order to answer the research question, the term investor protection is explained first and the old Swiss financial market law and the reasons for the changes in the law are defined. Subsequently, the new laws FinSA and FinIA and their direct influence on the investment advisory process as well as the associated costs are described. As a counterpart to the theoretical part, surveys of investors and experts are conducted to determine how execution of the new laws is perceived in practice.

The thesis highlights the fact that the new laws entail a high additional financial burden for financial service providers, but also offer opportunities. The investor protection under the old law can be defined as insufficient, which is mainly agreed upon by experts. The changes in the law create a balance of information between investors and financial institutions through higher information obligations and thus generate added value in the investment management business. Investors benefit from greater customer protection, financial institutions from the resulting enhancement of their reputation. Nevertheless, the thesis finds that investors are not prepared to pay a fee for investment advice today, which is most likely due to the fact that investors are not yet aware of the higher level of customer protection. Raiffeisenbank Aare Reuss is recommended to focus on employee training and to market the customer benefits of the new law in investment advice in a targeted manner, with the aim of introducing a consulting fee in the future if applicable.