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The firm turned out to be harder to sell than initially thought: bitter fights broke out, according to sources. Potential buyers had nimbly lined up with existing Flynt clients.

Tough Negotiations

Schoch's plan? To sell all of Flynt for roughly 10 million Swiss francs. The new investors, mainly interested in Flynt's technology, rejected this out of hand. The buyers weren't willing to take on a banking entity: Flynt doesn't require a banking license, at least intially, and the expense of maintaining one will eat into profits.

Schoch was forced to compromise: he had to sell the widely-praised «Flynt eco wealth system» for a single-digit million Swiss franc sum. He sold his entire Leonteq holding at the end of October.

Board's Last Straw

For Flynt's board under ex-Swiss Re chairman Peter Forstmoser, the sale was the straw that broke the camel's back. Without its platform, Flynt was a firm with little basis and no business model. Working with Schoch hadn't been without problems, even before the sale.

As Flynt's founder and financial backer, he demanded control over the firm's decision, such as the flawed one to seek a bank license. In fact, Schoch wasn't part of Flynt's management, nor its board. In order to shield their reputations from the fallout, board members decided nearly unanimously to resign – with the exception of Jasmin Schmuki, Schoch's associate and his voice on the board.

Forstmoster's public comments (in German) on the split are telling: Flynt had «differences of opinion with its main shareholder,» Forstmoser told a speciality publication. The outgoing chairman said he would follow Flynt's further development as an «interested observer».

Finma Comes Calling

The fallout from Schoch's decision reverberated well into last month: Schoch received a letter from Finma, according to sources. The regulator warned that without a board, Flynt was unable to label itself a bank anymore – the firm couldn't guarantee proper and rightful business conduct.

Relinquishing the banking license turned into a financial disaster: all told, Schoch reportedly wrote down 19 million Swiss francs on Flynt. Schmuki, the last board member standing, denied the decision to sell was the result of a margin call.

«Jan Schoch's decisions to sell the wealth management ecosystem to a client and return the banking license were entrepreunurial ones,» she wrote in an email to finews.asia.

The start-up's new owners will harvest the fruit of his labors in building up the wealth manager. Earlier this month, Flynt's new owners incorporated a new structure, which employs 28 of the Flynt's total 44 staff. The business model is the same: diversifying assets for ultra-high net worth individuals thanks to an innovative platform.