The world of crypto assets is forecast to explode in the coming years, moving on a long way from the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
Keystone/ennio Leanza
The Swiss financial regulator has awarded banking and securities dealer licences to two new “crypto banks”. SEBA and Sygnum have been cleared to operate in the new world of tokenised digital securities, a major milestone for the fledging industry.
This content was published on
2 minutes
When not covering fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, banks and trade, swissinfo.ch's business correspondent can be found playing cricket on various grounds in Switzerland - including the frozen lake of St Moritz.
This restricts the transfer of tokens to people the bank knows. “FINMA-supervised institutions are thus not permitted to receive tokens from customers of other institutions or to send tokens to such customers. This practice applies as long as information about the sender and recipient cannot be transmitted reliably in the respective payment system.”
Zug-based SEBAExternal link says it will be operational in October once it fulfils “secondary criteria” demanded by FINMA. It plans to offer corporate and asset management services for the new asset class.
SygnumExternal link, headquartered in Zurich, has teamed up with the German stock exchange, telecoms operator Swisscom and other partners to list and trade tokenised securities on a distributed ledger technology platform.
“Being awarded the banking and securities dealer licence from FINMA is a significant milestone, and an important step towards the institutionalisation of the digital asset economy”, said Manuel Krieger, co-founder and CEO of Sygnum Switzerland.
Sygnum also has also been awarded its Swiss licenses on a conditional basis until it meets “secondary requirements” demanded by FINMA. It has also applied for a capital markets services licence in Singapore.
The Swiss financial centre has for the last couple of years been gearing up to provide a blockchain-based infrastructure to trade the new digital assets. The Swiss stock exchange operator SIX plans to launch a new platform next year while several start-ups have also sprung up in Switzerland.
World’s first crypto banks seen as game changer for Switzerland
This content was published on
Crypto banks Sygnum and SEBA have convinced the Swiss regulator that crypto assets can have a place in the traditional financial sector.
Swiss committee wants to end government resignations during legislative term
This content was published on
Members of the Federal Council should no longer be able to leave office before the end of their term, according to a House of Representatives committee.
Swiss government seat: Ritter and Pfister nominated to succeed Amherd
This content was published on
Markus Ritter from St Gallen and Martin Pfister from Zug were officially nominated by the Centre Party on Friday to succeed Defence Minister Viola Amherd.
Top Swiss court rejects Russian request for administrative tax assistance
This content was published on
There is currently no reason to transmit banking information to the Russian Federation, the Swiss Federal Court has ruled.
After strike by radiologists, doctors demonstrate in Bern
This content was published on
Following a strike by radiology technicians in Fribourg, doctors, vets, dentists and chiropractors expressed their frustration on Friday outside parliament in the Swiss capital.
Eurovision and bleak world situation are top themes at Basel carnival
This content was published on
The Eurovision Song Contest and the gloomy global situation are among the main themes of Basel Fasnacht (carnival) this year.
Prices of Swiss investment properties continue to rise despite stagnating rents
This content was published on
Although rents in Switzerland stagnated or fell in the final quarter of last year, prices for investment properties continued to rise. Both apartment buildings and office properties have become more expensive.
Probe into wrong Swiss pension figures clears federal office
This content was published on
Employees of the Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) did not breach their duty of care when calculating pension prospects, an investigation has concluded.
This content was published on
Hotels in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino welcomed significantly more guests last December than in the same month of the previous year.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
World’s first crypto banks seen as game changer for Switzerland
This content was published on
Crypto banks Sygnum and SEBA have convinced the Swiss regulator that crypto assets can have a place in the traditional financial sector.
Swiss private banking giant dips toes into crypto scene
This content was published on
One of Switzerland’s largest banks, Julius Baer, has entered the cryptoassets world by announcing a partnership with budding crypto bank start-up SEBA.
Cryptoasset start-up backed by Swiss banking heavyweights
This content was published on
The Swiss-Singapore enterprise announced itself suddenly on Thursday after operating in stealth mode for months. It is aiming a broad suite of tokenised assets services for institutional investors. The so-called ‘token economy’ space, which digitises a range of financial assets for faster, more efficient trading, is rapidly gaining momentum around the world. It is believed…
This content was published on
The Swiss stock exchange’s new distributed ledger technology (DLT) trading platform may be arriving slightly later than anticipated.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.