Swiss banks are shunning crypto business. While politicians attempt to tread a path, finews.com reports on an unexpected, larger obstacle for token providers in Switzerland: the U.S.
The race for the best crypto hub is underway, with Switzerland competing with the U.S. as well as Asia counterparts such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Swiss ambitions for a «crypto nation», as economics minister Johann Schneider-Ammann put it in January, are increasingly challenged by nimbler upstarts like Liechtenstein and Malta.
Swiss banks have hindered efforts to build a crypto hub: except for outliers like Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, no banks are willing to do offer corporate accounts for the scores of token providers which have made their way to Zug, a lakeside town roughly 30 kilometers south of Zurich which has embraced cryptocurrency providers.
U.S. Undermine Swiss Plans
Their reticence is due to the murky legal treatment of cryptocurrencies, and far more extensive checks on anti-money laundering they require – know-your-client and other rules.
But there is another reason: U.S. correspondent banks are moving to ban their Swiss partners from offering services to cryptocurrency and token providers, finews.com has learned.
With their sovereignty over U.S. dollar transactions, U.S. correspondent banks are torpedoing plans by Swiss firms for crypto and initial coin offerings, or ICOs. Specifically, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America have enforced bans.
Blockade Hushed Up
Falcon Private Bank had to bury plans to offer ICO services alongside its crypto asset management products, a source told finews.com. A spokesman for the Zurich-based bank denied this, saying Falcon hadn't applied to any U.S. correspondent banks. Falcon does however plan to widen its offering of crypto services for private clients, he said.
- Page 1 of 2
- Next >>
