FINMA issuing regulation implementing FinSA and FinIA The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) recently held a consultation with the aim to issue regulation implementing the Financial Services Act FinSA and the Financial Institutions Act FinIA. The consultation’s outcome is the following: FINMA will make adjustments to the existing ordinances and circulars; It will issue a...Read More

AML at the centre of FATF’s new exploratory projects The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has initiated new exploratory projects which will take the form of questionnaires, seeking solutions and best practices in response to the increasing risk of money laundering in the technological sector. The first study is called “Opportunities and Challenges of New...Read More

End of preparatory works for FinIA and FinSA The Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has conferred upon the Swiss Supervisory Limited Company AOOS the authorization as a fifth supervisory organisations (SO), also recognizing it as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) under the Anti Money Laundering Act (AMLA). The set-up phase involving the institutional prerequisites for...Read More

Swiss Parliament approves final draft of New Data Protection Act On 25 September 2020, the Swiss Parliament approved the final draft of the revised Data Protection Act (rev-DPA), with the aim to modernise its data protection laws and align it to the latest EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The rev-DPA could still be subject...Read More

Outlook after the Swiss tax reform: Zug defends top spot Credit Suisse has announced the release of its Locational Quality Indicator annual study for 2020 that looks into the locational quality of Swiss cantons and regions. The annual Locational Quality Indicator (LQI) was developed in order to measure the attractiveness of the Swiss regions and...Read More

FINcontrol Suisse is the fourth supervisory body authorised by FINMA On September 29, 2020, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) granted the authorization to FINcontrol Suisse SA to operate as a supervisory organisation in the regulatory framework of FinIA and FinSA. The company is based in Zug and is the fourth authorised body, following the...Read More

The Swiss Parliament revises law on stock corporations On June 19, 2020, the Swiss Parliament approved the revision of the Swiss law on stock corporations (Company Law), which aimed at introducing simplifications (such as new provisions for the use of technology in support of general meetings) while allowing for greater flexibility and protection of specific...Read More

Switzerland declares Privacy Shield with USA non-compliant In light of the recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the protection of personal data in the context of the Privacy Shield between the US and the EU, Switzerland has been reassessing the conformity of the Privacy Shield to the Federal Act on...Read More

Taxes payable by cryptocurrency make Switzerland a leader in the implementation of crypto assets Thanks to its collaboration with Bitcoin Swiss, Canton Zug announced that it will accept tax payments by Bitcoin and Ether (for both companies and private individuals) up to an amount of CHF 100.000, starting from February 2021, becoming the first Swiss...Read More

Blockchain and distributed ledger technology: no repercussions for tax law Berna, 19.06.2020 – Nella sua seduta del 19 giugno 2020 il Consiglio federale ha preso atto del rapporto relativo a un’eventuale necessità di adeguamento della legislazione fiscale nel settore della blockchain. Il rapporto conclude che non occorre apportare particolari modifiche alla legislazione fiscale. L’ordinamento giuridico...Read More