Switzerland Creates Working Group to Help Blockchain Companies Open Bank Accounts
June 27 2018 - 6:58AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
The Financial Director of Zug, Switzerland, Heinz Tännler called on the Swiss Bankers
Association (SBA) to create a working group to help blockchain
companies open bank accounts, local news outlet
cash.ch reported June 26.
Since blockchain and crypto companies face difficulties with opening
bank accounts in the country, Tännler together with the Financial
Director of Zurich Ernst Stocker brought the issue to the attention
of Federal Council Ueli Maurer. Tännler is reportedly concerned
about the risk of losing business to countries with more friendly
banking environments.
Tännler said that blockchain offers great potential for
Switzerland, stating that "it must not be that Switzerland loses an
innovative industry because it makes payment transactions
impossible." Maurer subsequently called a meeting with
representatives of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the State
Secretariat for International Financial Affairs (SIF), the Swiss
Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the SBA,
Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, and the cantons of Zurich and Zug.
As a result, a working group headed by the SBA has been
established, which is charged to develop recommendations for banks
on how to deal with local blockchain companies in order to open an
account. The recommendations will also be consolidated with
FINMA.
According to cash.ch, the Tax Directorate of the Canton of Zug
issued a statement saying that the reason for the lack of legal
certainty from banks lies in the necessity of compliance with all
financial market regulations, especially with money laundering. Per the statement, existing
financial market regulations are not tailored to blockchain-based
companies.
Earlier this month, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg became the first bank in
Switzerland to provide business accounts to blockchain and crypto
companies. While Falcon Private Bank has provided
crypto asset management services since last year, the bank’s CEO
confirmed that they are first in the country to open company
accounts for blockchain and crypto companies.
In May, the decision of Polish banks not to cooperate
with BitBay, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in
Poland, forced the company to suspend its activities in the
country. The exchange announced it would reopen with a new supplier
in the jurisdiction of the Republic of Malta, where local laws are more lenient with
crypto-business.
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