Suchergebnisse für Distributed Ledger Technology

Darf die Nationalbank kryptobasierte Sichtguthaben (wCBDC) ausgeben?

This article examines whether the current monetary law provisions permit the issuance of wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) by the Swiss National Bank. After interpreting the relevant competence provisions, the question can in principle be answered in the affirmative, since wCBDC is not a new, third type of central bank money (in addition to banknotes and traditional sight deposits),…

Editorial

The present issue of the Swiss Review of Business and Financial Market Law marks the end of a fateful year for Switzerland in general and the Swiss financial center in particular. The demise of…

Floating Charge as Security in Debt Finance Transactions

The granting of security by the way of a floating charge is a common law concept which allows the entirety of a company’s assets to be used as collateral. Borrowers and lenders profit from this highly flexible means of providing a comprehensive security interest in debt finance transactions. This article examines whether the concept of floating charge is recognized under Swiss law or not. For…

Die Registrierungsvereinbarung – insbesondere bei tokenisierten Forderungsrechten

The registration agreement links a certain right to a token or other informational unit on a distributed ledger. In doing so, the issuer creates a ledger-based security, which is an instrument of public faith equivalent to a bearer or «ordre» security and features scriptural legality. The article examines the function and securities law context of the registration agreement, including…

Identification des actionnaires, restrictions de transfert et « white listings »

Identification of shareholders is a topic that is governed by various layers of rules under Swiss law, which were adopted at different times to serve different purposes. Most of these rules were adopted at a time when the structure of capital markets was very different from what it is today, and before the digitalization of securities became a topic. Also, growing focus on the fight against money…

Darf die Nationalbank kryptobasierte Sichtguthaben (wCBDC) ausgeben?

This article examines whether the current monetary law provisions permit the issuance of wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) by the Swiss National Bank. After interpreting the relevant competence provisions, the question can in principle be answered in the affirmative, since wCBDC is not a new, third type of central bank money (in addition to banknotes and traditional sight deposits),…

Insider Trading im digitalen Zeitalter: Neue Herausforderungen und Risiken

Insider trading has existed since the launch of the very first organized trading venues and is now prohibited in most jurisdictions. The growing digitalization of the financial industry is adding several layers of complexity to the topic and creating both new risks and opportunities for market participants. First, digitalization brings about a higher interconnectivity between the global financial…

Sicherung von strukturierten Produkten nach Art. 70 Abs. 2 FIDLEG

The Financial Services Act (FinSA) is a cross-sectoral regulation but still contains certain historically grown sector-specific provisions. Pursuant to Art. 70 FinSA, offers of structured products to private clients must fulfill regulatory requirements regarding issuer, offeror and collateralization. Particularly, the collateralization of structured products issued by SPVs pursuant to Art. 70 para…

Tokenisierung von Aktien unter dem neuen DLT-Gesetz (insb. Art. 973d ff. OR) und CMTA Standard

With the entry into force of the Swiss Federal Act on the Adaptation of the Federal Legislation to Developments in Electronic Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT Act) in 2021, various uncertainties relating to the tokenization of financial instruments have been clarified. In particular, the legal framework of such tokenization, understood as the association between digital tokens and certain…

To Infinity and Beyond: U.S. Dollar-Based Jurisdiction in the U.S. Sanctions Context

The power to print the world’s dominant currency gives the United States enormous leverage in pursuing its geopolitical objectives. This is particularly evident in the sanctions context, where the mere “use” of the U.S. financial system will pull parties into U.S. jurisdiction even if they are located outside the United States. This article highlights the recent extensions of jurisdictional…

Open Finance und Decentralized Finance – Entwicklungen in einem disruptiven Finanzmarktumfeld

The recent technological developments not only impact society in general but they also strongly influence financial markets, even in a disruptive way. Open finance and decentralized finance cause an opening of the financial ecosystem and challenge existing notions; for example, new concepts are needed for the regulation of data access/portability and of digital identity as well as for the…

Editorial

Am 31. August 2021 fand die 13. Tagung «Quo Vadis – Finanzplatz Schweiz?» unter der Leitung von Rolf Sethe und Christoph B. Bühler statt.

Angebot kollektiver Kapitalanlagen vs. Vertrieb unter altem Recht

The entry into force of the Financial Services Act (FinSA) on 1 January 2020 marked a fundamental reorganization of Swiss financial market supervisory law. The introduction of cross-sectoral rules governing the provision of financial services on a professional basis left its mark on the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) and the Collective Investment Schemes Ordinance (CISO) in particular…

DLT-basierte Finanzprodukte

DLT-based financial products are digitally created assets that can be transferred and stored on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) infrastructure. Internationally, such digitally stored «tokens» are mostly referred to as «crypto assets»; however, there is still a lack of recognized, clear and internationally uniform definitions. Parallel to the spread of crypto assets being treated according…

In eigener Sache | Affaires internes

«Die einzige Konstante im Universum ist die Veranderung», meinte schon der griechische Philosoph Heraklit (520–460 v. Chr.), und seine Aussage hat auch Gultigkeit fur die SZW/RSDA.

Zivilrechtliche Aspekte von Geschäftsabwicklungen auf DLT-Handelsplattformen

Following FINMA’s definition of the framework conditions for the creation of digital assets (tokens) under financial market law, the DLT Act of September 2020 has now also clarified legal issues relating to the transfer of and trading in such assets. Thanks to the newly created normative order, business transactions on DLT trading platforms can be conducted in a largely legally secure manner…

Digitalisierung des Aktienrechts – Die Ausgabe von Aktien als Registerwertrechte

Increasing digitisation is changing the society and economy, and therefore also affects the law regulating stock corporations. Wherever possible, physical processes are replaced by digital ones. With the emerging of distributed ledger technology (hereinafter DLT), a tendency towards dematerialization can be observed. DLT, or the technology of distributed electronic registers, is the technology of…

Banking and finance disputes: to arbitrate or not to arbitrate, that is the question

“It has been said that “[b]ankers have traditionally preferred judges to arbitrators”. Indeed, where banks or financial institutions are involved in a dispute, state courts have usually been preferred, while arbitration has, so far, often been overlooked. However, in the last decade, the financial landscape has endured colossal changes worldwide. The 2008 crisis led to a paradigm shift. Banks –…

Aktien als digitalisierte Werte

Shares issued on a distributed ledger have already been designated as a future market standard. The potential of these dlt-shares is also acknowledged by the Swiss government, which has published a preliminary draft on the adaptation of federal law to developments in distributed ledger technology earlier this year. This essay focuses on various mainly private law issues related to the issuance…

L’émission d’actions digitalisées comme moyen de financement de l’innovation et des PME

Switzerland is a world-leading nation in terms of entrepreneurship and promotion of innovation. Its universities produce a high number of start-ups. Its economy is based on a web of small and medium-sized companies, which make for the bulk of the country’s economic activity. Paradoxically though, the Swiss capital markets are relatively inefficient in channeling savings to companies. Only a…

Daten als Entgelt

The use of personal data as payment means in con­tractual relations is an economic reality that does not contradict the legal framework. In exchange for digital content a data subject may provide personal data to the supplier agreeing to have used them for further data processing. Under Swiss law, such kind of values’ exchange can be qualified as innominate contract that encompasses continuing…

Crowdinvesting mittels Initial Coin Offering – Regulierungsaufgaben im -Token-Universum

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are a phenomenon with similar characteristics as the cryptocurrency boom. Projects that typically have no history of producing a product or revenue raise capital by issuing their own tokens to investors. Therefore, the Federal Council adopted in December 2018 a report on the legal framework for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial…

Führen die neuen Technologien zur Disruption der Finanzmarktregulierung?

Technological developments and respective changes in business models require adaptations of the financial regulations. The need to adopt risk-oriented rules has become apparent already some time ago. Recently, regulators acknowledged the desirability of introducing innovation-supporting rules (for FinTech enterprises). The most disruptive effects, however, come from the new distributed ledger…

Die regulatorische Antwort auf FinTech: Evolution oder Revolution? Eine Verortung aktueller Entwicklungen

While technological improvements have shaped the financial industry and its regulation for decades, FinTech is the buzzword of the hour. Rapidly developing digital technologies allow new market entrants to disrupt the traditional intermediary-based provision of financial services (I.). These new businesses – in particular those that operate payment systems or engage in crowdfunding – may clash…

Corporate Governance auf der Blockchain

It is within the context of crypto-currencies that Blockchain first gained importance as a new technology. In the meantime, it has been recognized that this technology can also be used in the corporate environment. Such usage would have significant effects on corporate governance within companies (for example, in connection with the transparency of ownership, the handling of voting rights,…

Neuerfindung des Finanzsektors?

Although digitalization embraces practically all areas of society and economy, in the financial sector, the use of these new technologies started very early and were particularly intense. As financial products are largely based on information, the usage of such technologies are also the basis for financial systems, payment infrastructures, trading platforms and crypto-currencies. Owing to the…