What 2035 might bring

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Three developments appear probable over the coming decade. The first is normalisation: crypto-assets and digital assets will be one asset class among others, regulated, declared, held by ordinary clients with ordinary institutions. The specialised firms that have not been absorbed by the banks or have not obtained a banking licence will have disappeared. The second is the tokenisation of a growing share of traditional financial assets, beginning with bonds, funds and private assets, with settlement in central bank money or in bank deposit tokens. The third is transparency: the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets and digital assets, applied by more than seventy states, will have made undeclared crypto-assets an anomaly, as undeclared bank accounts have become.

For the Geneva financial centre, these developments offer opportunities and impose conditions. The opportunities are those of a wealth management and commodity trading centre that knows how to buy technology and which has, with Taurus and the banks that have adopted it, a lead in custody and issuance infrastructure. The conditions are those of flawless compliance, of adoption by the institutions and of a legal framework that remains stable while keeping pace with European and American developments. None of these conditions is secured, but none is out of reach.

Worked example. In 2027 a Geneva private bank issues a tokenised bond of CHF 100 million for an institutional client, settled in deposit tokens on an authorised infrastructure. Settlement takes place on the day of issue, against two days for a traditional issue. Custodian and paying agent fees are reduced by roughly one third, the coupons being paid automatically by smart contract. The total saving, in the order of CHF 150,000 over the life of the bond, is modest in relation to the amount issued. The real interest lies in the possibility, for investors, of transferring and pledging the securities continuously, and for the bank of offering its private clients fractions of an issue hitherto reserved for institutional investors.

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.

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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.

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What 2035 might bring

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