The DLT Act: architecture and timetable

From the Federal Council report of 2018 to the dispatch

The legislative response began with a report. On 14 December 2018 the Federal Council adopted a report on the legal framework for distributed ledger technology and blockchain in the financial sector. It concluded that Switzerland's legal framework was well suited to dealing with new technologies, including blockchain, but that there was still a need for selective adjustments. An interdepartmental working group examined at the same time the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing connected with Kryptowerte und Digital Assets.¹ The report identified three areas in which the law did not give sufficient certainty. The first was civil law: Swiss law knew no legal form in which a right could be transferred validly by an entry on a blockchain alone, because the transfer of uncertificated securities required a written assignment under Article 973c of the Code of Obligations (CO). The second was insolvency law, where it was uncertain whether Kryptowerte und Digital Assets held by a custodian could be segregated from its bankruptcy estate. The third was financial market law, which offered no licence for a platform combining trading, custody and settlement in one entity as blockchain-based platforms typically did.

The Federal Council opened a consultation in March 2019 and adopted the dispatch on 27 November 2019. Parliament debated the bill in 2020 and both chambers adopted it in the final votes of 25 September 2020.² The official title, Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, describes its method. It is a framework act that amends ten existing statutes: the Code of Obligations, the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA), the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA), the Financial Services Act, the National Bank Act, the Banking Act, the Financial Institutions Act, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Federal Intermediated Securities Act and the Financial Market Infrastructure Act. In Italian the statute is known as the Legge federale sull'adeguamento del diritto federale agli sviluppi della tecnologia di registro distribuito. The Italian abbreviation TRD (tecnologia di registro distribuito), which federal ordinances use for instance in the term sistema di negoziazione TRD, corresponds to the German and English DLT.³

Two dates of entry into force

The Act entered into force in two stages. The provisions on ledger-based securities in the Code of Obligations, together with the related amendments to private international law and to the law on intermediated securities, took effect on 1 February 2021, so that issuers could begin to create ledger-based securities and the market could develop the necessary registration agreements. The remaining provisions, in particular those on segregation in bankruptcy, the DLT trading facility and the amendments to banking and anti-money laundering law, took effect on 1 August 2021. The Federal Council had decided on the first stage on 11 December 2020.⁴ On 18 June 2021 the Federal Council adopted a blanket ordinance that amended the implementing ordinances in parallel. It explained that the Act would allow for innovative DLT trading facilities and increase legal certainty in the event of bankruptcy.⁵

Date Step 16 February 2018 FINMA ICO guidelines 14 December 2018 Federal Council report on DLT and blockchain 1 January 2019 FinTech licence (Art. 1b BankA) in force 27 November 2019 Dispatch on the DLT Act 25 September 2020 Final vote in Parliament 1 February 2021 Ledger-based securities in force 1 August 2021 Remaining DLT provisions and blanket ordinance 18 March 2025 First DLT trading facility licence (BX Digital AG) 22 October 2025 Consultation on payment instrument and cryptoinstitutions

Notes

Federal Council, media release "Federal Council wants to further improve framework conditions for blockchain/DLT", 14 December 2018, https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-73398.html (legal framework "well suited to dealing with new technologies, including blockchain"; "still a need for selective adjustments"; interdepartmental working group on money laundering and terrorist financing risks). The three areas (civil law, insolvency law and financial market law) are confirmed by the Federal Council's dispatch on the DLT Act (below), which refers to the report of 14 December 2018. ↩
Federal Council, Botschaft zum Bundesgesetz zur Anpassung des Bundesrechts an Entwicklungen der Technik verteilter elektronischer Register of 27 November 2019, BBl 2020 233, https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/fga/2020/16/de/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-fga-2020-16-de-pdf-a.pdf (consultation opened in March 2019; report of 14 December 2018 and its three areas); Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, AS 2021 33, German text https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/oc/2021/33/de/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-oc-2021-33-de-pdf-a.pdf (final votes of both chambers on 25 September 2020). ↩
Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, AS 2021 33, German text https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/oc/2021/33/de/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-oc-2021-33-de-pdf-a.pdf, section I nos. 1–10 (amended acts); Italian text https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/oc/2021/33/it/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-oc-2021-33-it-pdf-a.pdf (title Legge federale sull'adeguamento del diritto federale agli sviluppi della tecnologia di registro distribuito ). For the abbreviation TRD see Art. 5 para. 3 lit. c no. 2 BankO in its Italian version, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/9/95/952.02-5-9.html. ↩
Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, AS 2021 33, German text https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/oc/2021/33/de/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-oc-2021-33-de-pdf-a.pdf, note on the expiry of the referendum period and entry into force (Federal Council decision of 11 December 2020; entry into force on 1 February 2021 of, among others, Arts. 622, 973a–973i, 1153 and 1153a CO and Arts. 105, 106, 108a and 145a PILA; "Die übrigen Bestimmungen werden zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt in Kraft gesetzt"). The amendments to the Federal Intermediated Securities Act also entered into force on 1 February 2021, according to the notes to Arts. 5 and 6 FISA (below). ↩
Federal Council, media release "Federal Council brings DLT Act fully into force and issues ordinance", 18 June 2021, https://www.admin.ch/en/nsb?id=84035 (entry into force 1 August 2021; "This will allow for innovative DLT trading facilities and increase legal certainty in the event of bankruptcy"). Federal Department of Finance, "Blockchain" (above), confirms the three areas: securities law, segregation in bankruptcy and the new authorization category. ↩

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 October 2026.

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The DLT Act: architecture and timetable

From the Federal Council report of 2018 to the dispatch

Two dates of entry into force

Notes

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