Bitcoin regulation: the Swiss Finma published guidelines

Bitcoin, crypto currencies and the Blockchain technology are not rarely associated with money laundering in connection. Now the Swiss financial market Supervisory authority Finma issued a Supervisory notice on the subject. Here she explains how to apply the existing Swiss money laundering rules for financial service providers in the Blockchain-the area.

By Phillip Horch
26. August 2019BTC$10.345,44 1.17%part Facebook Twitter LinkedIn xing mail

The Bitcoin-regulation in Switzerland is taking shape. Thus, the Swiss financial market Supervisory authority Finma declared in an official communication, as you want to agree on money-laundering directives and the Blockchain-industry. It States:

[Finma] has applied the applicable financial market legislation, regardless of the underlying technology. Block chain-based business models must not, however, bypass the tried-and-tested regulatory framework. This is especially true in the case of the application of the rules to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the Blockchain-the area where the anonymity of increased risk.

so for the time being, nothing New: the Bitcoin industry must comply with the applicable laws. It also wants to keep Switzerland in the future of Bitcoin regulation proposals from the Financial Task Action Force (FATF):

In the case of Transfers of tokens, with the exception of Transfers of and not under the Wallets were, as in the case of a conventional Bank transfer information on the payer and the payee are transmitted. So, for example, the receipt lists at the end of a financial intermediary in the name of the sender against sanction or as to the accuracy of the information on the beneficiary check.

money laundering laws also apply in the case of Bitcoin & co.

By the Finma, it is more that you want to apply the laws on money laundering for Bitcoin & co., and in the Blockchain sector:

The Finma anti-money laundering act has already been since the advent of Blockchain-financial services consistently they are applied. In its, published today, Supervisory communication, the Finma informed about this technology-neutral application of the current regulatory requirements for payment transactions on the Blockchain. The Finma-supervised institutions, crypto-currencies, or other Token is allowed to send to external Wallets of their own, already-identified customers, and only of such crypto-currencies, or Token, contrary to take.

in other words: One should send its Bitcoin & co. in Wallets, but only if one can assign to each customer. Furthermore, it is said:

Finma-Supervised institutions may not receive tokens from customers of other institutions, or to send to customers of other banks. This applies as long as it can, as in the corresponding payment system no information to the sender or the receiver reliably transmitted. This well-established practice is different than the FATF Standard, without exception, and is thus one of the strictest in the world.

New Blockchain-financial service providers in Switzerland

Finally, Finma announces that it issued recently, two Blockchain-financial service providers in the Bitcoin Ecosystem, a banking and securities dealer licence. This is the Seba Crypto AG from Zug and the Sygnum AG from Zurich. Both will be offering, Finma further, services for institutional and professional clients. In the supervision of those new Blockchain-companies, the authority intends to let the above principles to the Bitcoin-regulation exercise.

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