Deposit protection and investor compensation

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Clients of Swiss banks are protected by the deposit guarantee scheme up to 100,000 francs per client and bank. The scheme covers deposits in francs and foreign currencies. It does not cover crypto-assets held in custody, since these are segregated in the bank's insolvency and do not form part of the estate.¹ Clients of crypto banks therefore rely on segregation for their crypto-assets and on the deposit guarantee for their cash balances. Because the fintech licence and the sandbox are not covered by the deposit guarantee, providers operating under them must inform their clients of this.

Switzerland has no general investor compensation scheme comparable to the schemes of the European Union. A client who suffers a loss because a crypto service provider has misappropriated its assets must rely on segregation, on civil claims against the provider and its organs, and on criminal proceedings. The absence of a compensation scheme is a gap that the reform of the Financial Institutions Act does not address directly, since the emphasis of Swiss law lies on the prevention of losses through segregation and supervision.

Notes

Banking Act (SR 952.0), Art. 37a para. 1 (privileged deposits up to CHF 100,000 per creditor) and Art. 37h; esisuisse, "Deposit insurance" and FAQ, esisuisse.ch: deposits are protected up to CHF 100,000 per client and bank, deposits in foreign government-issued currencies are also covered, and securities and cryptocurrency units in custody accounts are not covered because they are handed over to the client in the bank's bankruptcy. ↩

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.

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Deposit protection and investor compensation

Notes

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