CAT FINANCIAL PRODUCTS -

14

March
2023

Next-Generation Securities House Emerges in the Swiss Financial Centre

CAT Financial Products AG (CATFP) has received an authorization from FINMA to operate as a securities firm. Thanks to this milestone, CATFP will henceforth play an even more active role in the Swiss financial Centre. The company also successfully concluded a financing round. This creates the foundation for further growth and increased expansion on a regional and international level. As an independent securities firm, CATFP will offer new services and launch its first investment products.

CATFP was founded in 2012 and is one of the leading Swiss providers of investment solutions in the market for structured products. It has offices in Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Lugano. Thus far, the company has provided innovative service and technology platforms for intermediaries such as asset managers and banks.

The authorization as a securities house creates additional business opportunities for CATFP. The company will be able to offer new products, services and trading functions, such as the brokerage and distribution of financial instruments as a counterparty, the issuance of structured products, their hedging transactions and market making, as well as functions such as index calculation agent and paying agent.

CATFP will gain new momentum in the development of structured products, Actively Managed Certificates (AMCs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). Based on its own issuing platform, CATFP will launch products that are tailored to the needs of Swiss investors and thus differentiate themselves from the competition. In a first step, structured products will be issued on this platform both from its own balance sheet and via an off-balance sheet vehicle. As the legal structure of the issuer, a Protected Cell Company (PCC) has been established in Guernsey under the name of 1291 Issuer PCC Ltd. This allows the issuer to make each issue under a financially and legally segregated entity, which limits the risk of default to that particular issue. In addition, the issues can be directly collateralized from a PCC, which also allows for public distribution. The issued products will be accessible to investors with a listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the BX Swiss. The issuing and trading platform was developed as an ecosystem that is available to all market participants via an open interface (API) and has a modular structure. Scalability and efficiency have a high priority.

"The investment house license is the logical next step in the development of CATFP. Not only does it enable us to provide our clients with an enhanced service offering, but it also creates a unique investment experience while providing the highest levels of flexibility, security and transparency through proprietary products such as AMCs and ETPs. We are excited to set new standards with our state-of-the-art structured products issuance platform, in line with our mission to be ALWAYS AHEAD," comments David Schmid, Partner and co-owner of CATFP, on the strategic milestone.

Over the past two years, CATFP has created a highly qualified and experienced team of experts from various fields, which has now grown to over 50 employees. It includes specialists from all relevant areas such as Sales, Public Distribution, Trading and Structuring, Quants, IT Development, Legal & Compliance, Finance & Accounting, Product Services & Management, Operations and Risk Management, who have now developed an issuance platform based on the latest technologies and systems, in addition to a lifecycle and reporting platform. "Those who invest in innovation invest in their future viability and focus on growth and success. Employees have the opportunity to contribute their ideas and work together on new solutions. We live this corporate culture as a team. We create value through innovation," adds Giuliano Glocker, partner and co-owner of CATFP.

In addition to him as founder of the company, other experienced people are part of the Executive Board: David Schmid, Ulrich Sauter, Maurizio Maniglia, Nico Hofstetter, Stephan Giselbrecht and Roman Przibylla.

With regard to the FINMA approval, a previously announced capital increase was also successfully implemented. This means that Michael Hartweg, among others, joins the existing shareholders with a corresponding shareholding. Hartweg was one of the founding partners of Leonteq and is active as a venture capitalist. He will now chair the CATFP board of directors. Angelo Sieber, former CFO of CATFP, has also joined the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is made up of other industry experts. These include Andreas Eschbach, Beat Hodel, Daniel Eggenberger, Heinz Barmettler, Urs Meister and Valerio Roncone.

About CAT Financial Products

CAT Financial Products AG is one of the leading Swiss providers of investment solutions in the structured products market. CAT Financial Products has been offering its services to professional asset managers, banks and institutional investors since 2012, using one of the most innovative technologies. For more information please visit www.catfp.ch

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Roman Przibylla, Chief Distribution Officer