ICO Regulation in Switzerland in a Nutshell

FINMA, ICO, TGE, Token Classification

Dr. Andreas Glarner, Partner at the MME Crypto Team, provides a high level overview on how Switzerland’s regulator FINMA assesses ICOs / TGEs based on the guidelines recently published. 

Learn about the different token models (payment/currency, utility, asset) and their regulatory treatment during the different stages of your project. Further, understand which ones qualify as securities and where KYC / AML regulations apply.

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Dr. Andreas Glarner
Legal Partner

T +41 44 254 99 66
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Dr. Luka Müller
Legal Partner

T +41 41 726 99 66
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Thomas Linder
Tax Partner

T +41 44 254 99 13
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From the magazine

Decentralized Autonomous Association (DAA)

Many previous Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have been criticized for their uncertain legal status, liability and ability to manage real-world projects. With the aim to overcome these legal uncertainties, MME - together with Validity Labs and various other friends within the Swiss FinTech industry - have elaborated a legal und technical framework enabling blockchain-governed Decentralized Autonomous Associations (DAAs).

SIX joins digital Ecosystem

Leading players in the Swiss ecosystem for digital assets are joining forces: the collaboration between Swisscom, daura, Sygnum Bank and Custodigit will now include SIX.

FINMA publishes Stable Coin Guidelines

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA today publishes a supplement to its ICO guidelines outlining how it treats so-called ‘stable coins’ under Swiss supervisory law.

FINMA provides opinion on Libra

FINMA provides an indicative classification of the Libra project under Swiss supervisory law on the basis of the information available so far.

FTA Crypto Working Paper

The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) sets out its developed practice with regard to crypto currencies and ICOs in a working paper based on the existing tax laws.

Consultation on DLT

In March 2019, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on the adaptation of the Federal law to the developments of the DLT. As an independent law firm with a broad and long-standing experience in providing legal advice on blockchain projects, we are happy to comment on it.

Publication VAT Practice for Tokens

The FTA has published its practice adjustments for VAT on supplies in connection with blockchain and distributed

Digitize Your Shares!

MME and Swisscom have jointly developed the blockchain-based “daura” Platform that enables Swiss SMEs to now keep their share register simply and digitally, and to conduct capital procurement transactions at the push of a button.

How to declare bitcoins?

The declaration of bitcoins and other digital information units ("tokens") in the Swiss tax return is in practice still unclear. Our article (in German) provides some guidelines.

Framework for Crypto Tokens

The current "Block 2" version of the "Conceptual Framework for Legal and Risk Assessment of Crypto Tokens" includes several amendments to the initial genesis version from September 2017. The Framework can be considered in all jurisdictions, regardless of national legal and regulatory frameworks.

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