The Swiss Blockchain Federation (SBF) welcomes the planned revision of the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinfraG) and has submitted important comments as part of the consultation process. As the leading public-private partnership for the promotion of Switzerland as a blockchain location, the SBF sees the modernization of the FinfraG as a decisive step towards securing the competitiveness of the Swiss financial center and promoting the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT).
In its consultation, the SBF highlights seven key points:
Positive assessment of the revision: the SBF expressly praises the careful review and structuring of the revision. It emphasizes that the revision is a necessary step to eliminate existing uncertainties. The SBF suggests that such systematic reviews should also be carried out regularly in the future in order to take into account the dynamics of technological developments in the financial market infrastructure.
Lack of definitions: The SBF proposes that clear and binding definitions for the terms “central securities depository” and “payment system” be enshrined in the law. These terms are currently so broad that they could theoretically affect almost any custodian or bank. A narrower definition could lead to greater legal certainty and prev
Rule of law principles: The SBF’s proposal provides for the legislator to establish clear and comprehensible criteria for the applicability of the FinfraG. Although the thresholds proposed in the draft revision provide guidance, the SBF believes that they are not sufficient. Instead, it calls for detailed guidelines on the application of the law in order to uphold the principle of legality.
Lack of future orientation: The SBF criticizes the fact that the draft revision focuses too strongly on existing structures and does not take sufficient account of future developments in the area of distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The SBF proposes that the principle of technology neutrality be clearly anchored in the law and that the future integration of trading and post-trading activities be expressly permitted in order to exploit innovation potential.
Strengthening the DLT trading system: In order to catch up with the implementation of DLT trading systems, the SBF calls for the licensing requirements for these systems to be simplified and accelerated. In addition, cooperation between the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and the companies concerned should be improved in order to remove obstacles in the approval process.
Slow licensing procedures: The SBF proposes integrating best practice approaches from the EU Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCAR) into Swiss law in order to increase the efficiency of authorization procedures. For example, tighter deadlines and clearer requirements for the authorities could be introduced in order to shorten processing times.
Deregulation check: The SBF calls for a systematic review of unnecessary or obstructive regulations to be carried out as part of the revision of the law. Provisions that have proven to be superfluous or even counterproductive in practice should be deleted.
With these proposals, the Swiss Blockchain Federation is advocating future-oriented and innovation-friendly legislation that positions Switzerland as a leading blockchain location worldwide.
The Swiss Blockchain Federation’s comprehensive statement on the consultation (in German only) can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/finfra_sbf
