Dismissal of the appeal against the supervisory liquidation of X.________ AG and Y.________ AG

Facts

[X. AG] and [Y. AG] , both in liquidation, filed an appeal against the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMASA). FINMASA had found that the two companies, together with six other companies, had acted as securities dealers on a commercial basis and had violated the Federal Act of 24 March 1995 on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading (Stock Exchange Act, SESTA). FINMASA initiated supervisory bankruptcy proceedings against the two companies.

The appellants request the Federal Court to overturn the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court and to establish that there is no activity subject to licensing. They argue that there is no group action and that they merely brokered shares on the basis of framework and agency agreements, but never took them over themselves and offered them publicly on the primary market.

Considerations

The Federal Court dealt with the question of whether [X. AG] and [Y. AG] were active as securities dealers and whether they violated the Stock Exchange Act. The Court found that the companies were closely linked in terms of personnel and organization and that they, as a whole, violated the Stock Exchange Act.

The Court also examined the question of the group activity of the companies and found that the appellants were involved in a dense network of contracts for the overall intended public and commercial sale of shares of various American and Swiss…