Foundations and financial market law

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The foundation form did not remove the project from financial market law, because the regulatory classification of a token depends on its function whatever the legal form of its issuer. A foundation that issued asset tokens was subject to securities law. A foundation that issued payment tokens or accepted crypto-assets as a service for third parties could be a financial intermediary under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The foundation's charitable appearance gave no exemption. While Part H deals with the financial market rules in detail, for this chapter it is enough to note that the choice of the foundation had to be accompanied by a regulatory analysis of the token and of the foundation's activities.

FINMA's enforcement practice made the point when, in 2017 and 2018, it opened investigations into a number of ICOs and closed several unlicensed providers that had issued tokens resembling deposits.¹ The foundations of the well-known projects were not affected by these measures, but the enforcement signalled that the legal form did not decide the regulatory question.

Notes

FINMA, press release "FINMA closes down coin providers and issues warning about fake cryptocurrencies", 19 September 2017, finma.ch: E-Coin providers QUID PRO QUO Association, DIGITAL TRADING AG and Marcelco Group AG closed for accepting at least CHF 4 million in deposits without a licence; eleven further investigations into presumably unauthorised coin business models. FINMA, press release "FINMA is investigating ICO procedures", 29 September 2017, finma.ch: FINMA is looking into a number of ICO cases. ↩

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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Foundations and financial market law

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?