- An SRO membership is an affiliation with a Self-Regulatory Organization (e.g. VQF or SOFIT) that is recognized by FINMA.
- SRO members are supervised by the SRO in regard to their AML & CTF obligations based on the Swiss AML Act.
- SRO members are not supervised by FINMA.
- SRO membership is often commonly referred to as “Crypto-license”, “VASP License”, “AML registration” or Swiss MSB license.
- Hundreds of Swiss companies operate under the SRO regime.
Allowed activities:
1.Financial Services
* Additional requirements, authorization and/or limitations may apply.
** No financial instruments.
2.Cryptoasset related services*
* In principle, no security-tokens or derivatives allowed.
** Additional requirements and/or limitations may apply.
3.Accept Deposits From The Public (Sandbox & Exceptions)
Accepting deposits from the public on a professional basis requires an operating license for banking under the Federal Act on Banking and Savings (“BA”). The general rule is that it is considered a professional activity to accept more than 20 (twenty) deposits from the public over the long term or advertising made for that purpose. Accept clients’ funds (public deposits) in principle limited to CHF 1 million (sandbox regime*)
However there are exceptions*, the limit is waived if:
– from corporates with a professional treasury management
– for the immediate exchange of currencies (fiat or crypto)
– placed on settlement accounts for client transaction settlements within 60 days
(payment processing)
– covered by a default bank guarantee (you´ll be able to get it with a Swiss bank)
* Additional requirements and/or limitation or exceptions may apply
4.Process Payments
- Act as an intermediary to process your customers’ transactions
- Process Payments via Your Bank Account
- Access to:
– Swiss banks
– EU/EEA banks
– International banks - 60-day settlement
Access Card Schemes With Your Own BIN*
- Obtain Principal Membership with Card schemes and your own BIN numbers*
- Act as an intermediary between cardholders & the issuing bank
- Act as an intermediary between your customers and the acquiring bank
- Provide POS terminal & NFC reader devices to your customers
- Issue debit, credit & prepaid cards to your customers with your own BIN
* Subject to approval of the card schemes (SRO membership not always accepted)
Application Process
Before you go live: Implementation of IT ID-check & AML & CTF solutions
Switzerland as a Key Advantage
- Build trust by being regulated in Switzerland.
- Benefit from the most mature crypto ecosystem in the world.
- Offer both payment & crypto services under your SRO membership.
- Operate in a low-tax jurisdiction (11.85% corporate tax in Zug).
- Benefit from the Swiss clear regulatory framework.
To Move Forward – please provide the following information to create the incorporation documents:
- Name of the company
- Purpose in keywords
- Amount of the founding capital (min. GmbH: CHF 20,000, AG: CHF 100,000, paid-in CHF 50,000)
- Complete data on the founder and director(s) (incl. residential addresses, copies of ID cards)
- Which cryptocurrency should the company be founded in?
Should you require company incorporation, administration, or related services, we will be glad to assist.
Please find attached a detailed breakdown of prices and expenses.