The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has continued to improve the efficiency of its authorisation process for enquiries related to distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain.

Each year, FINMA receives approximately 100 such enquiries.

Over the past three years, it has reduced the average time required to respond from 141 days to 25 days, representing a reduction of 82%.

This improvement has occurred despite the increasing complexity of the issues raised.

According to FINMA, its growing experience in these areas has contributed to the reduced processing times.

The authority has also introduced procedural changes to facilitate effective handling of enquiries.

Authorisation enquiries can now be submitted through an electronic survey platform.

FINMA has made a quick guide to the electronic submission process available on its website.

FINMA distinguishes these enquiries from license applications submitted under Article 1b of the Banking Act, commonly referred to as fintech licenses.

These applications mainly relate to the provision of payment services in national currencies.

In order to assess such license applications more efficiently, FINMA recommends the submission of a preliminary enquiry.

This allows the authority to provide an initial regulatory assessment.

“The initiators of the project thus receive valuable feedback on any obstacles to licensing or other important issues,”

FINMA stated.

Featured image credit: FINMA