Gazprombank clinched approval from Switzerland's regulator to expand its offering of cryptocurrency products.
The Zurich-based subsidiary of Gazprombank will offer custody of cryptocurrencies and trading between crypto and fiat currencies to its corporate and institutional clients services to a limited number of selected clients after winning backing from Swiss financial regulator Finma, it said in a statement on Thursday. The move is the result of a more than two-year push.
«We expect digital assets to become increasingly important in the global economy and, in particular, for our current and potential clientele,» Gazprombank's Swiss CEO, Roman Abdulin, said. The bank is primarily a trade financier and commercial lender; its balance sheet is roughly 1.8 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion) and it posted 4 million francs in profit in the first six months.
Crypto Shift
The bank's efforts come against the backdrop of fledgling Swiss crypto banks Seba and Sygnum, as finews.com reported in September. Traditional Swiss lenders are also softening their initially cool stance on the cryptocurrency space.
Gazprombank was sanctioned in Switzerland nearly three years ago for a long-standing pattern of not spotting money laundering. Shortly after, it began focusing providing crypto-linked banking services to fellow financial institutions, institutional clients, and others.
