Section 1.4
Mapping the Swiss market
Essential question
The Swiss structured products market generated CHF 235 bn in turnover in 2025 — how can such a small country dominate such a specific market, and what does it concretely change for you when you structure from Geneva for a client in Dubai?
Switzerland is the world's largest market for structured products measured by holdings outstanding. In 2025, annual turnover reached CHF 235 bn (+18% vs 2024), with around 75,000 live products and more than 30 issuers who are SSPA members. This is not a niche market — it is a mature financial centre with its own ecosystem.
This ecosystem took four decades to build. The first Swiss warrants of the 1980s paved the way. The first Barrier Reverse Convertible appeared in 1995. Standardisation came with SIX Structured Products (formerly Scoach) as the reference exchange, the SSPA (Swiss Structured Products Association) codifying market practice, and the COSI (Collateral Secured Instruments) framework, which has enabled collateralisation since 2009. It is the combination of these three pillars — exchange + association + collateral — that makes the Swiss market unique.
The key point for you: the range of issuers present on SIX is not only Swiss. Alongside UBS, Vontobel, Leonteq or ZKB, you find BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, JPMorgan, Société Générale. Why? Because the client base managed out of Switzerland is global. A private banker in Geneva structuring for a Mexican or Emirati client needs issuers that cover their universe of underlyings — not just the SMI.
Before the visual — state your intuition
Who really carries weight in the Swiss market?
Out of the CHF 235 bn in annual turnover, what share do you think is held by non-Swiss issuers (foreign banks present on SIX)? And which ones would make the top 10?
YOUR TURN TO PREDICT
Before you see the five quotes
You send the exact same BRC (SMI, 12 months, 70% barrier) to five issuers via RFQ. Which one will quote the highest coupon: the best-rated (Aaa) or the worst-rated (BBB-)? Why?
Key message
Switzerland is not a domestic market for structured products — it is an international hub with infrastructure unique in the world (SIX, COSI, SSPA) serving a global client base. When you structure from Geneva, you have access to issuer competition spanning 4 continents — use it systematically via RFQ.
The SSPA publishes a quarterly industry report with volumes by product category (Capital Protection, Yield Enhancement, Participation, Leverage). In Q3 2025, Reverse Convertibles (with or without barrier) remained the most issued products at CHF 18 bn — consistent with the no. 1 need, “yield”, identified in chapter 1.3.
To identify the issuers best suited to a given underlying, the Product Finder on sspa.ch lets you filter by underlying, family and tenor. Combined with your whitelist of issuers (with ratings and COSI), you arrive at the RFQ stage with a short-list of 3-5 players.
Question 1 / 3
Why is a French issuer like BNP Paribas active on SIX Structured Products and a member of the SSPA?
Question 2 / 3
What does COSI stand for and why is it a Swiss differentiator?
Question 3 / 3
Is the SMI (Swiss Market Index) the dominant underlying for structured products issued in Switzerland?
Sources used
- SSPA Industry Report Q4 2025 — volumes by category, annual turnover
- SSPA Issuer Ratings (snapshot 05.11.2025) — Moody's, S&P, Fitch for the 30+ member banks
- SSPA Swiss Derivative Map © 2026 — product taxonomy, COSI, SSPA
- Finanz und Wirtschaft Strukturierte Produkte 2025/2026 — annual market analysis
- Atlantic Derivatives SA — Distribution Tracking 2025 (sample of ~190 real ISINs)