// Financial Law Update
Liberalization of the rules relating to acceptance of deposits from the public – The Federal Council enacts the so called “fintech revision“ of the Banking Ordinance
The Federal Council has amended the rules relating to the acceptance of deposits from the public in two respects: On the one hand side, the revised article 5 para. Abs. 3 letter c of the Banking Ordinance sets forth that the acceptance of monies for settlement purposes does not require a banking licence if the settlement takes place within 60 days. Previously, FINMA had applied a time frame of only 7 days. The extension of the time frame is particularly geared towards facilitating the activities of crowdlending plattforms. On the other hand side, the revised article 6 para. 2 of the Banking Ordinance allows for public deposits to be accepted without a banking licence, provided that such deposits do not exceed CHF 1 million on an aggregate basis. Under the old provisions there was no such exemption limit. The newly introduced limit shall enable fintech firms to test their business model on a smaller scale before having to apply for a costly banking licence. The amended Banking Ordinance entered into force on August 1, 2017.
