The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) puts Malta on its grey list for ongoing sloppy anti-money-laundering procedures and other shortcomings. FATF is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog (found on FATF’s website). As a inter-governmental body, FATF sets…
The European Council has called for the swift enactment of Switzerland’s proposed corporate tax reform package. The recommendation was one of a number of conclusions adopted by the Council regarding the EU’s relations with the Swiss Confederation. The Council said…
The UK and Switzerland have signed a trade continuity agreement that will serve as a basis for their trading relationship after Brexit. The agreement was signed in Bern on February 11, 2019. The Swiss Federal Council explained that the agreement…
On 1 August 2018, the German Ministry of Finance published the amended draft bill of the Annual Tax Act 2018 which will be subject to further discussions in the parliament in the coming months. Furthermore, the States’ Ministers of Finance…
From 2019, interested parties can apply for the new FinTech licence. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA is responsible for granting this licence. It has published guidelines aimed at simplifying the application process. To boost innovative financial companies, the…
Switzerland’s Government has recently decided on a number of trade matters and reviewed its plans for changes to how it administers vehicle taxes. Approval of trade deals with Ecuador and Turkey On November 21, the Swiss Federal Council approved two…
The Swiss Government has announced that, in preparation for a major overhaul of the tax system, existing practices on the taxation of principal companies and finance branches will not be applied to new companies as of 2019. The Government’s Tax…
The two houses of Switzerland’s parliament have said that they are largely in agreement on the main points of the Government’s proposed changes to the corporation tax system. On September 12, the National Council approved tax proposal 17 (TP17). The…
In mid-June 2018, the Swiss parliament launched a new licensing category, known as the FinTech licence, with the aim of promoting financial market innovation. This new licensing category under the Banking Act (BA) will apply to institutions which accept public…
India is to receive bank account information from HSBC after Switzerland’s highest court ruled that the bank is obligated to provide data requested where the leaked data has not been purchased. The information was leaked in 2008 by Herve Falciani,…
Currently there is no legally recognised classification of tokens, neither in Austria nor on a European or international level. The literature differentiates between three different types: Security / Investment Tokens (hereafter referred to as “Security Tokens”) Payment / Currency Tokens…
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has launched enforcement proceedings against envion AG. FINMA has evidence that the company may have breached financial market law in relation to an ICO. FINMA launched enforcement proceedings against envion AG in July…
The increasing use of new technologies and IT systems creates numerous advantages, but also dangers. Due to global networking and the high data density that technical progress brings with it, any financial intermediary can become a potential target for cybercrime….
Austrian Banking Act (BWG; Bankwesengesetz) deposit-taking business Where capital is not collected in the form of crypto assets, but are instead collected in the form of a currency that is legal tender and the ICO foresees the repayment of…
In guidelines published today, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA sets out how it intends to apply financial market legislation in handling enquiries from ICO organisers. The guidelines also define the information FINMA requires to deal with such enquiries…
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has published the amended circular “Public deposits with non-banks”. Changes made to the circular define more clearly the new FinTech regulations on sandboxes and the extended timeframe for settlement accounts introduced by the…
The rates of value-added tax (VAT) in Switzerland will be reduced effective 1 January 2018. VAT rates will be reduced to 7.7% (standard VAT rate) and 3.7% (special VAT rate for accommodation) as of 1 January 2018. The “reduced rate” of…
The Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has observed a marked increase in initial coin offerings (ICOs) conducted in Switzerland. It has today therefore issued FINMA Guidance 04/2017 on this topic. FINMA has also indicated that it is investigating a number…
The individual who manages intellectual property rights for music groups including the Rolling Stones and U2 has denied that corporate structures were set up in the Netherlands to avoid tax in recent parliamentary testimony. On June 12, Jan Favie, a…
The Swiss Federal Council has asked the Federal Department of Finance to prepare a consultation on a draft tax reform package by September. Earlier this month, the steering body tasked with drawing up “tax proposal 17” (TP17) published its recommendations….
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