Liti-Link, retrocessions and Retro-Back™

Liti-Link AG is a service provider from Switzerland specializing in claims management which asserts and successfully carries out legitimate, financial claims against companies. Liti-Link specialises in the recovery of unlawfully withheld retrocessions and has already assisted several hundred institutional as well as private investors in asserting their claims.

Liti-Link has an experienced team with long years of experience in claim management and a broad partnership network of law firms in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany.

Liti-Link uses standardised and certified IT processes that are lean, digital and secure while guaranteeing complete confidentiality at all times. The security of your data is of utmost importance.

Yes. Liti-Link is as a litigation funder specializing in claims management .We assert the legitimate, financial claims of clients against companies taking it to court proceedings if required.

With our product "Retro-Back" we support you in reclaiming retrocessions and would be pleased to be contacted. The Liti-Link retrocalculator on our website allows you to calculate quickly and easily how much money you can claim back, completely free of charge and without obligation.

Yes. Numerous articles have already appeared about Liti-Link's work in connection with the recovery of retrocessions that were wrongly withheld. You can find a selection of German-language and international articles from journalists from all over the world in the media reports section.

Retrocessions are commissions, third-party payments, kickbacks, royalties and indirect fees that are invisible to investors and are systematically and unlawfully withheld by Swiss banks and asset managers.

Receiving retrocessions is a lucrative business model for Swiss and Liechtenstein banks and asset managers because the hidden commissions usually end up, unnoticed by the clients, at the finance institutions’ accounts, even though the investors are entitled to them.

There are many different types of monetary benefits:
• Retrocessions (refunds from a fee charged directly to the end customer)
• Portfolio maintenance commissions (indirect fees from the management commission, which is charged to the fund assets on a recurring basis and proportionally reduces the return to which the investor is entitled from the fund assets)
• Kick backs
• Finder fees
• Commissions
• Sales compensation
• Third-party compensation
• Etc.
 

Unfortunately, Swiss banks and asset managers do not have to proactively pay out the retrocessions that were wrongly withheld; instead, customers have to seek the money that has been withheld from them themselves. This recovery process is complex and is characterized by costs and failure. With “retroback”, Liti-Link therefore supports customers from all over the world in reclaiming retrocessions that were unlawfully withheld and offers a fair profit-sharing model.

"Retro-Back" is the name of Liti-Link's innovative retrocession recovery service. With Retro-Back, Liti-Link offers an uncomplicated, fast and customer-oriented service. By commissioning Liti-Link, our customers can benefit from Liti-Link's know-how and experience without any financial risk. After the assignment of your claims, Liti-Link begins the reclaim process. Liti-Link will only receive a profit share if the retrocessions are successfully reclaimed. If we are unable to reclaim any retrocessions in your case, you will not incur any costs.

The Liti-Link retrocalculator on our website allows you to calculate quickly how much money you can claim back, completely free of charge and without obligation.

Liti-Link is the pioneer and market leader in the recovery of retrocessions and has been offering a purely performance-based and risk-free recovery model since 2017. When reclaiming with Liti-Link, only a small amount of information is required and our customers' time investment is extremely low. We have already supported over 1,700 institutional and private investors from 40 different countries in recovering retrocessions. It is also crucial for our customers that Liti-Link has no conflict of interest because, unlike most Swiss law firms, we do not serve banks as clients and are 100% financed from our own funds. Numerous renowned journalists have reported on the claim for retrocessions and also examined Liti-Link. They also surveyed some of Liti-Link's customers and came to the conclusion that Liti-Link is the only true specialist for retrocessions.

This is how Retro-Back works

Investors can determine the size of their potential financial claim on our website by using the retrocalculator. In addition, you can enter your data online under the item "Secure claims" and submit it online. This way, you will automatically receive our contract. Of course, you are also welcome to contact us by phone or email.

In the course of an assignment, your claims will be assigned to Liti-Link. After submitting the application form, you will receive the "Agreement" (pages 1-2) as well as an "Assignment agreement" (page 3) and a "Power of attorney" (page 4) by email. You sign these documents and initially return them to us in a digital format. You send the original documentation by post to Liti-Link AG, Schützenwiese 8 in 9451 Kriessern (Switzerland).

On receipt of the complete signed documentation in digital form (scan, photo etc.) Liti-Link then stops the statutory limitation of the claim with the relevant authorities.

Liti-Link simultaneously requests full disclosure from the bank and/or the asset manager and analyses the documents provided to it. Based on the disclosed documents, the amount of the claim can be calculated.

In the next step, Liti-Link reclaims the retrocessions owed from the financial service provider for the last ten years.

Any share of a successful recovery for Liti-Link on the net proceeds (= claims in respect of the settlement amount or the claims awarded by the court less all third-party costs) is only then relevant when the claim is successfully asserted and depends materially on the amount of the recovery obtained. The advantage for investors: no risk of costs and no high legal fees or court fees are incurred.

All procedural costs will be borne by Liti-Link in advance. These will only be deducted from the enforced claim in the event of a successful outcome. In an unsuccessful case, all third-party costs will be borne by Liti-Link.

Withholding retrocessions was and is a common and, above all, lucrative business model in the Swiss financial world, which is why it can be assumed that the majority of banks and asset managers have received and continue to retain retrocessions.

Retrocessions are/were withheld for financial investments from registered accounts, numbered accounts, corporate accounts, foundation and trust accounts, regardless of whether it is/was an asset management mandate, an advisory mandate or an execution-only mandate. Retrocessions can also be reclaimed for inherited accounts. A formal requirement for the reclaim is that your assets have been invested in a bank and/or asset manager in Switzerland during the last ten years (limitation period). Whether and to what extent retrocessions have been paid and to what extent you are entitled to default interest can only be determined after detailed disclosure by the bank/asset manager.

Liti-Link offers a fair and purely profit-sharing model. 

A profit share for Liti-Link of the net proceeds only accrues if the claim is successfully enforced and depends largely on the amount of the reclaim enforced. If no reclaim is possible, Liti-Link alone will bear all costs incurred. Our customers therefore have no cost risk.

If a reclaim is possible, Liti-Link retains a profit share of 40% of the reclaimed net proceeds and pays out 60% of the net proceeds to its customers. If the net reclaim proceeds are less than CHF 8,000, Liti-Link's profit share is 50%. Liti-Link is therefore always in the same boat as its customers and is always interested in an efficient recovery process and the best possible result.

The amount of retrocessions wrongly withheld cannot be estimated before beginning the reclaim process as it varies greatly and depends on numerous factors (including the amount of investments, type of mandate, products in your portfolio, frequency of movements in the portfolio, years of investment, which bank and/or asset manager, etc.). Experience has shown that the value of the retrocessions retained and to be reclaimed can be up to 14% of the average invested portfolio volume, depending on the structure and timing.

To get an estimate of the reclaim amount, you can enter your data (∅ assessment amount and duration) into our retro calculator.

For Liti-Link, despite its long experience and profound know-how, it is not clear in advance whether and to what extent retrocessions have been received by the Swiss financial institution. The amount of retrocessions collected varies greatly and depends on numerous factors. Not only the amount of investment is crucial, but also, for example, the type of mandate, products in your portfolio, frequency of movements in the portfolio, years of investment and of course also which bank and/or asset manager you have or had your portfolio with. Liti-Link knows what information must be requested from the bank or asset manager in order to determine the amount of retrocessions and late payment interest that customers are entitled to. In our experience, in most cases it is worthwhile to initiate a reclaim process.

The distribution of the reclaimed retrocessions is always calculated from the net proceeds of the clawback. The net proceeds of the clawback are calculated by deducting the external costs (= third-party costs) from the gross proceeds. These external costs are exclusively third party costs and not any internal costs or expenses of Liti-Link.

As a rule, the external costs are the costs of administrative authorities and courts or any legal fees. The actual costs vary from case to case.

If a case is unsuccessful, our client (assignor) does not have to pay any costs incurred during the process to Liti-Link (assignee). The worst case scenario for the client is 0.

If a case is successful, then the net proceeds are split between the assignor and assignee as contractually agreed.

As Liti-Link also shares in the net proceeds, and only if we are successful in recovering retrocessions, Liti-Link strives to keep external costs as low as possible. Our aim is to maximise the net proceeds of each case.

Liti-Link only needs a few details to start the reclaim process. Liti-Link does NOT require account statements, contracts or anything similar from its customers.

For name and numbered accounts, we need the following details from our customers in order to create the contract documents:
• Name of the account holder(s)
• Current registration address of the account holder(s)
• Date of birth of the account holder(s)
• Name of the bank and/or asset manager
• Approximate investment volume (eg. 2 Mio CHF)
• Approximate duration of the investment (eg. 2006 – 2016)

For inherited accounts, Liti-Link requires the following information and documents:
• Name of the deceased account holder of the securities account
• Date of birth and death of the deceased account holder
• Name, date of birth and current registration address of all heirs
• Name of the bank and/or asset manager
• Approximate investment volume (eg. 2 Mio CHF)
• Approximate duration of the investment (eg. 2006 – 2016)

For corporate accounts (simple corporate accounts or as part of a trust/foundation):
• Name of the company (the company must still exist)
• Address of the company
• Name and date of birth of all authorized signatories of the company
• Name of the bank and/or asset manager
• Approximate investment volume (eg. 2 Mio CHF)
• Approximate duration of the investment (eg. 2006 – 2016)

We create our contract documents based on the above mentioned information and documents. Our contract documents include, on the one hand, the “Agreement” (pages 1-2) between you and Liti-Link itself as well as an “Assignment Agreement” (page 3) and “Power of Attorney” (page 4).
 

Liti-Link works with a pure profit-sharing model. This means that only when our customers receive their money do we receive our profit share. Our customers do not have to pay in advance at any time and if, contrary to all expectations and contrary to our experience, no reclaim is possible, there will be no costs for our customers. Liti-Link assumes the entire process and cost risk.

In our experience, recovery processes take between three months and three years. The duration of the reclaim process depends largely on the processing time at the bank. It depends, among other things, on whether an out-of-court settlement can be reached directly with the bank/asset manager or whether the claims must be asserted in court. In addition, the processing time varies greatly between individual banks/asset managers. Since Liti-Link only receives a profit share after a reclaim has been successfully obtained, it is always important to us to make the reclaim process as efficient as possible and to achieve the highest possible net proceeds.

Switzerland:

• 2006: BGE 4C_432/2005 - According to Art. 400 CO, retrocessions and brokerage commissions belong to the investors.
• 2011: BGE 4A_266/2010 - An agreement according to which any retrocessions remain with the bank or asset manager requires that the investors (clients) are sufficiently informed about the expected retrocessions.
• 2012: BGE 4A_127/2012 and 4A_141/2012 - Portfolio maintenance commissions and also retrocessions obtained from group-internal product providers belong to the investors.
• 2017: BGE 4A_508/2016 - Investors can retroactively reclaim retrocessions from the financial service provider for 10 years.
• 2017: HG150054-O - Investors are entitled to a refund of retrocessions wrongfully withheld even if there was no asset management mandate (e.g. advisory mandate or execution-only mandate).
• 2018: BGE 6B_689/2016 - An asset manager who does not inform his clients about retrocessions (and thus does not disclose them) is guilty of unfaithful business management under Art. 158 para. 1 SCC.
• 2020: BGE 4A_355/2019 - The Federal Supreme Court again concretised its case law on the so-called "retro guidance rulings" from 2011 and 2012 with regard to the requirements for a legally valid advance waiver of retrocessions.
• 2021: HG190234-O - The Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich again states that, irrespective of the type of business relationship, there is a duty to disclose monetary benefits obtained in excess of the fee, such as retrocessions.

Liechtenstein:

• 04.09.2020: 02 CG.2019.58- ON41 - The Princely Supreme Court confirms for the first time that retrocessions, irrespective of the type of business relationship (asset management, advisory mandate, execution-only mandate), must be disclosed and handed over to investors in principle.
• 06.05.2021: 15 CG.2018.219- ON68 - Princely Supreme Court reaffirms that retrocessions, regardless of the type of business relationship, must be disclosed and handed over to investors in principle.
• 15.07.2021: E-14/20 - EFTA Court upholds how an investment firm must inform its clients about retrocessions it receives from or pays to third parties under Art. 26 of the MiFID Implementing Directive 2006/73/EC.
• 15.12.2021: 09 CG.2018.166- ON62 - Retrocessions, regardless of the nature of the business relationship, must be disclosed and issued to investors in principle. Investors must be informed in a comprehensive, accurate and comprehensible manner regarding retrocessions by the investment firm and be able to determine the amount of the fee or commission granted to the investment firm by a third party in order to make an informed investment decision....
• 28.03.2022: StGH 2021/099 - State Court confirms EFTA Court decision and upholds OGH judgment 09 CG.2018.166- ON62. StGH holds that a bank must at least provide its customers with ranges so that they can assess which third-party inducements are to be expected in each case.
• 28.05.2022: StGH 2021/045 - State Court confirms the decision of the EFTA Court and upholds the judgment of the OGH 15 CG.2018.219- ON68. CJEU requires indication of percentage ranges of the expected retrocessions, which can at least give the bank client concrete indications of the magnitude of the retrocessions.

If you have/had a custody account with more than one bank and/or asset manager, you must assign your claims to Liti-Link individually per bank/asset manager.

Simply send us additional forms for each individual contractual relationship after successfully sending the first form.

If you have/had multiple accounts with a bank and/or asset manager and they are/have all been in the name of the same account holder, then sending one form will be sufficient and Liti-Link will receive the information for all accounts/deposits.

Yes. Retrocessions can be reclaimed for accounts that have already been closed as well as for existing banking relationships. About 50% of all Liti-Link cases are clawbacks for accounts that have already been closed. Retrocession claims can also be enforced for heirs or communities of heirs to Swiss securities accounts. Liti-Link has also successfully enforced retrocession claims for corporate, trust and foundation accounts. In principle, no documentation (contracts, statements, etc.) is necessary for reclaiming with Liti-Link. The only important thing is that your securities account existed at some point in the last 10 years (statute of limitations).

Yes, it is possible to reclaim withheld retrocessions for inherited securities accounts. We are currently handling several mandates of heirs and reclaiming the unlawfully withheld retrocessions from banks and/or asset managers.

In principle, anyone who has had an account with a Swiss bank or an asset manager in the last ten years can independently claim retrocessions. However, the chances of success if you claim reimbursement on your own are very low, as banks and asset managers often refer to waivers, which experience shows do not meet the federal court criteria for a legally valid waiver. This means that most requests for repayment are brushed off and the retrocessions continue to expire in favor of the banks. Some of our customers have tried to claim reimbursement on their own, but have made serious formal errors. In no case that we know of has a client or law firm interrupted the statute of limitations in the correct way, which is why months and years were lost and the amount recovered was greatly reduced.

Civil proceedings can last years and are frequently very costly. Litigation financing is an opportunity for plaintiffs who are in the right to assert their rights.

Litigation finance, an established method in the German speaking legal area, enables mandates and lawyers to assert legitimate claims notwithstanding high legal costs and without risk of own personal costs.

Many plaintiffs fear asserting their claims, especially when opponents appear all-powerful, long legal proceedings are likely and high legal costs may arise. Litigation financing is a tried and tested means for plaintiffs to obtain a fair legal hearing and the potential to assert it.

Liti-Link AG acts in cases of civil claims which are to be asserted within the framework of national and international courts and arbitration proceedings.

We examine all cases involving money free of charge. We will consider whether it is possible to finance your legal costs. We finance both out-of-court and in-court proceedings, through one or more instances, in Switzerland and in German-speaking countries, as well as national and international arbitration proceedings. The following requirements must be met:

• Payment claims or claims on other assets result in a dispute value of at least 100,000 Swiss francs, EURO or US dollars.
• A lawsuit makes sense because there are good prospects of legal success.
• The other party has sufficient creditworthiness.

• Lawyer’s fees (the costs of your own lawyer as well as costs incurred by the opposing counsel)
• Court costs
• Costs for witnesses and expert appraisals
• Costs for provision of security and deposits

A profit share for Liti-Link only accrues if the claim is successfully enforced and depends largely on the amount of the reclaim enforced. After deducting fees and external expenses, depending on the procedure, approximately 40% of the net income is due as a profit share for Liti-Link. This will be offset directly against the repayment made by the debtor. In this way, Liti-Link ensures that customers do not have to pay in advance at any time.