The Swiss Blockchain Federation has welcomed a report published today by the Federal Blockchain/ICO Working Group and has urged authorities to adopt a binding agenda, so that blockchain companies can get legal certainty.

The report picks up on several of the points raised in the white paper published by the Blockchain Taskforce - the predecessor to the Swiss Blockchain Federation - in April.

The report does not call for a separate blockchain law, preferring to amend existing civil and financial market law, reflecting the objective of setting framework conditions so that Switzerland can strengthen its support for distributed ledger technologies (DLT).

The Federal Council’s also concurred with the analysis that it is not necessary to change anti-money laundering legislation at present, as the existing rules can also be applied to new business models.

Heinz Tännler, president of the Swiss Blockchain Federation, stated that legal implementation now needs to follow on quickly from this report. “Switzerland needs this certainty as the basis for further development,” he said, calling for a binding agenda from the regulator.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) recently published guidelines for the upcoming FinTech license, which should be introduced on 1 January, 2019. It aims to promote innovation in cryptocurrency and DLT by easing some of the existing rules.

The new regime will allow FinTech projects to raise outside capital of up to 100 million Swiss francs, although the companies must use the money only for the development of their ideas.

The license targets only FinTech initiatives falling within the scope of Switzerland’s Federal Banking Act, which lists “asset managers, notaries and business agents who simply manage their customers’ funds and who do not engage in regular banking business”. Crypto exchanges comply with the definition, since they provide deposit services to their clients and do not lend money.

Around 530 blockchain startups have settled in Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’ around Zurich and Zug, but many have been getting the jitters due to restricted access to the banking sector.

In September, the Swiss Bankers Association issued guidelines to banks who may want to do business with startups, but fear falling foul of anti-money laundering (AML) rules. Only a handful of Switzerland’s 250 banks ever allowed companies to deposit the cash equivalent of cryptocurrencies raised in initial coin offerings (ICOs).

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