The United States and Asia: innovation and capital

Read the PDF edition (2 pages)

Beyond the competing centres in wealth management, two blocs weigh on Geneva’s future through their capacity for innovation and their depth of capital. The United States concentrates global asset management, the large technology platforms, venture capital and, since 2025, a policy of financial deregulation and of welcoming crypto assets and digital assets that attracts capital and businesses.¹ China and East Asia generate the growth of global wealth and are developing their own infrastructures, from central bank digital currency to payment platforms, at a speed that Europe does not match.

Geneva does not compete with these blocs, on which it depends. Its clients invest in the American markets and its managers use American technologies, while its traders sell to Asia. The question facing it is how to remain a useful centre for a global clientele in a world organised around these poles. In the autumn of 2025 the Fondation Genève Place Financière observed that Switzerland was going “against the current” by making its regulation denser while the United States was deregulating and the Union was simplifying, and argued for a proportionate approach according to the size of institutions.²

Notes

Wikipedia (en), article “GENIUS Act” (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, Public Law 119-27): “The U.S. Senate passed the bill on June 17, 2025, with a bipartisan vote of 68–30”, adopted by the House of Representatives on 17 July 2025 and signed by President Trump the following day; “The act requires stablecoins to be backed one-for-one by U.S. dollars or other low-risk assets”. ↩
“La place financière genevoise "se porte bien"” (The Geneva financial centre “is doing well”), Léman Bleu, 16 October 2025, quoting Édouard Cuendet, director of the Fondation Genève Place Financière, at the presentation of the 2025–2026 economic survey. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

Get in touch →

The United States and Asia: innovation and capital

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?