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Swiss Supervisor Found AML Breaches in a Third of Inspected Initial Coin Offerings

By Gabriel Vedrenne

Despite an overall drop in AML enforcement in Switzerland, closer regulatory attention on financial technology-based firms, or fintechs, last year, unearthed significant compliance problems across the emerging sector. Determined not to fall behind in the fintech race, the Alpine nation has attracted dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges, crowdlending platforms, blockchain consultancies, software developers and similar firms in recent years through a combination of low taxes and flexible regulations. But initial exams have found a high proportion of shortcomings, especially in the context of initial coin offerings, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority warned in an 88-page report. ICOs involve largely unsupervised...

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