Press release: Leonteq completes transition to FRTB and publishes business update

PRESS RELEASE | LEONTEQ COMPLETES TRANSITION TO FRTB AND PUBLISHES BUSINESS UPDATE

Zurich, 04 December 2025 | Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Leonteq AG (SIX: LEON) today announced important progress in executing its strategy, including the successful transition to SA-FRTB with a CET1 ratio above 15% as of end-November 2025. At the same time, despite a steady improvement in client activity, Leonteq recorded a notable reversal of positive hedging contributions and expects to report an underlying loss for 2025. Furthermore, after serving as Chairman for more than eight years, Christopher Chambers has announced that he will not stand for re-election at the upcoming AGM.

Christian Spieler, CEO of Leonteq stated: “Our progress in the client business and in restoring client confidence underlines the right direction of our ‘ROE’ strategy. We also completed the transition to capital calculations under the final Basel III Standards swiftly and addressed remaining legacy matters. At the same time, our business model still remains exposed to market conditions. The measures we are implementing to expand our revenue base and improve our organization more broadly will enhance our fee production and reduce dependency on the equity trading environment over time, supporting the delivery of sustainable value for clients and shareholders.”

Transition to FRTB completed

As communicated with its half-year 2025 results, Leonteq has defined a strategy execution roadmap for the next 12 to 24 months with a view to improving profitability and strengthening capital efficiency. Good progress has already been made in delivering against key priorities:

Under the transitionary rules agreed with the Swiss Financial Market Authority (FINMA), Leonteq has been permitted, as previously disclosed, to apply the simplified standardised approach (SSA) for calculating risk-weighted assets (RWA) for market risks through a phase-in until end-2026.

Advancing the transition to the enhanced regulatory regime has been a clear focus of the new management team at work since spring 2025. Following a dedicated effort to implement RWA calculations according to the standardised approach for market risk introduced under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (SA-FRTB), Leonteq completed the transition to the new regime in record time in November 2025 and, thus, significantly ahead of schedule. Based on unaudited financials as of end-November 2025, Leonteq’s CET1 ratio based on SA-FRTB stood above 15%.

Business update for July to November 2025 and full-year outlook

The new management team also has made important progress in restoring confidence in Leonteq and reviving the client business across regions. In the July to November 2025 period, Leonteq processed more than 127,000 client transactions (up 18% year on year) and issued more than 27,000 products (up 49% year on year). Total turnover amounted to approximately CHF 11.9 billion (up 23% year on year).

Margins of around 60 basis points were stable compared to the first half of 2025 and lower year on year,  reflecting a change in partner mix. Fee production accelerated notably following the seasonal weak summer months. Thanks to this solid development, the company expects to report a net fee income in line with the first half of 2025.

In contrast, following a period of heightened market volatility earlier in the year, the market environment normalised in the course of the second half which reversed the majority of positive hedging contributions recorded in the prior period.

Leonteq also executed key priorities of the company’s resizing and optimisation strategy pillars. The company has agreed to sell its entity in Japan and the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. Furthermore, Leonteq increased the headcount in its nearshoring center in Lisbon from 85 to 97, representing 25% of the non-sales and non-trading staff population (target: 30% by end-2026). Thanks to these and additional cost measures initiated, Leonteq expects to report underlying costs of approximately CHF 205 million (prior guidance: CHF 220 million) for the full year 2025. The resizing and regulatory transition costs are expected to come in at approximately CHF 10 million, in line with guidance.

As a result of these factors, Leonteq expects to report an underlying loss in the low double-digit millions for 2025.

Regulatory legacy matters drawing to a close

With high priority, Leonteq addressed all remaining supervisory requirements that were ordered by FINMA as part of the proceedings concluded in December 2024 in relation to transactions with two former distributors in the period from January 2018 to June 2022. The review of these measures was completed by a FINMA-appointed audit mandatory in the course of the second half of 2025 with only a few points left to be amended or integrated into the company's processes before year-end 2025 – the final review of these will be carried out shortly thereafter.

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin has announced a fine in the amount of EUR 35,000 in relation to a breach of supervisory duties towards employees. This relates to a measure already communicated in 2023.

Leonteq undertook a comprehensive programme over the last few years to strengthen its global compliance and risk management framework. The company made new appointments to key leadership and expert positions and enhanced its internal control system by introducing new policies and widening the scope of its monitoring activities. The effectiveness of control functions has been significantly improved through substantial investments in staff – with headcount in compliance and risk control more than doubled in recent years.

Changes to the Board of Directors

After serving as Leonteq’s Chairman for more than eight years, Christopher Chambers has announced that he will not be standing for re-election at the Annual General Meeting in 2026. Under the leadership of the Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee a process is underway to appoint a suitable successor.

Alternative Performance Measures used in this press release

This media release and other investor communications include certain financial metrics not defined by IFRS. Management considers these alternative performance measures (APMs) useful for understanding the Group’s financial and operational performance. APMs are not intended to supplement, nor replace, IFRS figures. Definitions and reconciliations to IFRS line items are available in the Alternative Performance Measures section of the Leonteq half-year report 2025 on pages 78 to 80.

CONTACT
Media Relations 
+41 58 800 1844
media@leonteq.com

 Investor Relations 
+41 58 800 1855
investorrelations@leonteq.com

LEONTEQ

Leonteq is a Swiss fintech company with a leading marketplace for structured investment solutions. Based on proprietary modern technology, the company offers derivative investment products and services and predominantly covers the capital protection, yield enhancement and participation product classes. Leonteq acts as both a direct issuer of its own products and as a partner to other financial institutions. Leonteq further enables life insurance companies and banks to produce capital-efficient, unit-linked pension products with guarantees. The company has offices and subsidiaries in 13 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Leonteq AG has a BBB- credit rating by Fitch Ratings, was assigned with an AA ESG rating by MSCI and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: LEON). www.leonteq.com

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