Tokyo (SCCIJ) – In a global premiere, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has issued banking and securities dealer licenses to two pure-play blockchain service providers. At the same time, Finma published rules on how to prevent money-laundering in the area of blockchain technology. These steps reinforce Switzerland’s pioneering role in the development and regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The two companies involved are SEBA Crypto AG registered in Zug, and Sygnum AG registered in Zurich.
Symbols of the three cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple
Connecting two worlds
SEBA Crypto AG wants to enable individual and institutional clients to invest, safely keep, trade, and borrow against traditional and digital assets, all in one place. Its future offering will include custody storage, trading, and liquidity management as well as asset and wealth management. For Swiss blockchain companies, SEBA will provide accounts and custody for fiat and digital assets.
The Swiss crypto industry expects that the banking licenses could foster the integration of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets into the established financial sector. Andreas Amschwand, Chairman of the Board of SEBA, commented: “This moment has significance far beyond the Swiss financial industry.” Guido Bühler, CEO of SEBA, added: “SEBA sets a new standard as a licensed integrated bank connecting the old and the new world.”
Next step: stock exchange
Sygnum, the other new “crypto bank”, aims its services at institutional investors and qualified private investors, companies, banks, and other financial institutions. It offers custody of digital assets and a platform for generating digital assets. Its liquidity is based in the major traditional currencies as well as in the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum and digital Swiss franc tokens.
Sygnum also wants to become one of the first banks to be able to trade on the “SDX digital stock exchange” planned by the Swiss stock exchange operator Six. For this, it has already partnered with Deutsche Börse in Frankfurt, Germany. “To date, a lack of institutional-grade custody and a truly integrated banking solution has slowed the adoption of digital assets by institutional investors,” said Luka Müller-Studer, Co-Founder and Chairman of Sygnum. “Hence, the license announcement is a game-changer.”
Prevention of money laundering
However, by becoming crypto banks, SEBA and Sygnum have to accept the existing regulatory framework for banking and securities dealers. This applies particularly to the rules for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, where the inherent anonymity of blockchain technology presents increased risks.
Finma only permits supervised institutions to send and receive cryptocurrencies or other tokens to external wallets belonging to their own customers. Their identities must have already verified. This practice applies as long as information about the sender and recipient cannot be transmitted reliably in the respective payment system. This regulation would be one of the most stringent in the world, Finma claimed.
Text: SCCIJ with material of Finma, SEBA AG and Sygnum; Picture: Pixabay CC0
