The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), wants to lower the threshold value for exchange transactions in cryptocurrencies, as part of the amendments to the current FINMA ordinances and circulars.
The regulator wants to reduce the CHF 5,000 (~$5,121) client identification threshold value in its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Ordinance to CHF 1,000 (~1024 USD) for digital currency transactions in the country.
The new rule change is coming in response to the alleged heightened money-laundering risks associated with the cryptocurrency space. Hence, by adopting this measure, the regulator is also considering the international standards approved in mid-2019.
Meanwhile, as of December 2019, the Switzerland Federal Council sanction a survey on the risks and opportunities that will emerge from issuing a government-backed cryptocurrency (e-franc).
At that time, the Council decided that there are no benefits with cryptocurrencies, mainly a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), saying that universally accessible CBDCs will instead result in new risks with regard to Economy stability.
FINMA has been obliged to make the new rules on crypto transactions, including the creation of a new Financial Institutions Ordinance (FinIO-FINMA) to its current ordinances and circulars, following the laws passed by the Federal Council on January 1, 2020.
The Council enacted a new Financial Institutions Act (FinIA) and Financial Services Act (FinSA) alongside the implementing ordinances, which include Financial Institutions Ordinance (FinIO), Financial Services Ordinance (FinSO), and Supervisory Organisations Ordinance (SOO).
FINMA’s New Guideline on Stablecoins
After a closer look at the rate by which stablecoins were released, FINMA put forward a new amendment to the existing ICO guidelines in September 2019 to determine how these cryptocurrencies should be treated under the Swiss law.
As Coinfomania reported, the regulator noted that regulatory requirements for such cryptocurrencies would differ, given that they were developed on the sole purpose to minimize the instability associated with other digital currencies.
Therefore, the new guideline considers the type of asset that backs a particular token, including the risks associated with stablecoins regarding money laundering, securities trading, and more.
