Log in or register
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 15 JANUARY 2026

Market Intelligence Thought Leadership Award Winner

FINMA Has Published Guidance 01/2026 On The Custody Of Crypto-based Assets

Borel & Barbey
Explore more from Borel & Barbey

On 12 January 2026, FINMA published Guidance 01/2026 on the custody of crypto-based assets, setting out supervisory expectations aimed at strengthening client and investor protection in Switzerland's growing crypto market.

SwitzerlandTechnology
Maria Oberlin-Chiriaeva
Maria Oberlin-Chiriaeva
Marc Freymond
Marc Freymond
Julien Dayer
Julien Dayer
Author LinkedIn connections

On 12 January 2026, FINMA published Guidance 01/2026 on the custody of crypto-based assets, setting out supervisory expectations aimed at strengthening client and investor protection in Switzerland's growing crypto market.

FINMA identifies the risks associated with the custody of crypto-based assets and specifies the supervisory requirements applicable to Swiss regulated institutions, in particular banks, securities firms, managers of collective assets and portfolio managers offering custody, trading or investment services in such assets.

FINMA notes increasing interest for crypto-based assets in the Swiss financial market and a corresponding expansion of crypto-related services by supervised institutions. Following the entry into force of the DLT Blanket Act, Swiss legislation now offers enhanced insolvency protection for crypto-based assets held in custody by third parties.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

Register for freeORLog in

View source

Related Articles

Legal Intelligence Newsletters: sign up for the latest legal and regulatory news on your chosen topics

Read more about

Related Comparative Guides

See more popular content from

Article

When AI Agents Pay: The Legal Challenges Of Agentic Payments In Switzerland

AI agents no longer merely recommend purchases — they are beginning to select merchants, conclude transactions and pay, within mandates their users define in advance. For Swiss banks and fintechs, this shifts the legal question from whether an institution may deploy an autonomous agent to whether a customer can validly authorise today a payment whose amount, counterparty and timing will only be determined tomorrow. The payment mandate, not the individual payment instruction, becomes the decisive legal control point.
SwitzerlandTechnology
RUGGLE Partner
RUGGLE Partner
Article

Control, Responsibility And Governance Of Autonomous AI Agents In Swiss Fintech

As autonomous AI agents increasingly perform decision-making functions within financial institutions, Swiss fintechs must confront fundamental questions of control, accountability and governance. Existing regulatory obligations remain fully applicable: autonomy in the machine does not displace responsibility in the firm. The task is to build oversight frameworks that keep pace with technological independence rather than yield to it.
SwitzerlandTechnology
RUGGLE Partner
RUGGLE Partner
Article

LETA: What New Obligations Will Companies Face As Of 1 October 2026?

Switzerland is introducing a central register of beneficial owners through the Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners (LETA), effective October 1, 2026. This reform requires Swiss and certain foreign companies to identify beneficial owners, document their control, and report information to a new federal register administered by the Federal Office of Justice. Companies must prepare for these new governance, documentation, and compliance obligations by en
SwitzerlandCorporate/Commercial Law
Borel & Barbey
Borel & Barbey