The crypto-friendly statesman assumes the Swiss presidency

Economics and regulation

After serving as Finance Minister of one of the most economically influential nations in the last three years, Ueli Maurer now begins his mandate as President of the Swiss Confederation. Considering his curriculum and his liberal ideas about the fintech regulation, the election of Maurer is considered a positive development for the expansion of the cryptic industry of the Alpine nation.

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Symbolic role with decisive vote

Ulrich & # 39; Ueli & # 39; Maurer is one of the seven members of the Swiss Federal Council. The body that holds executive power in the country is led by a rotating presidency shared among councilors. The position is largely ceremonial and symbolic, but the president has an important role: his vote can tip the balance when the council is divided on important decisions. On 5 December, Maurer was elected by the Swiss parliament for a one-year term in 2019 with the impressive support of 201 out of 209 members.

The 68-year-old expert accountant was credited for his policies as head of the Federal Department of Finance, which controls the public budget, reports Swissinfo. Maurer also demonstrated his ability to understand the changes taking place in the financial sector and the need to adopt liberal industry regulations based on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. Digitization is also one of the president's main priorities.

In recent years, Switzerland has gradually become one of the most cryptic jurisdictions in Europe and on the world stage. Last month, the Swiss government announced a global strategy that recognizes distributed accounting technologies as an important development for the financial sector and aims to build a legal basis for their implementation.

The document requires the adoption of amendments to existing laws that would improve cryptic nation status. Among other proposals, the strategy focuses on the integration of decentralized digital currencies into the country's economic and financial infrastructure. This is a fact that hundreds of encrypted startups based in the Swiss valley crypt of Zug should certainly appreciate.

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The reluctance of traditional financial institutions to provide regular banking services to these companies has been a major obstacle to their development. Last year, local officials in the canton of Zug and representatives of the federal government expressed concern that if the issue is not resolved, many of these companies could move to jurisdictions that offer more favorable conditions. Their number in Europe is growing and already includes Malta, Gibraltar and Estonia.

Digital assets offer a potential for financial services

<img class = "alignright wp-image-271217 size-medium” title=”The crypto-friendly statesman assumes the Swiss presidency” src=”https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ueli-Maurer-300×188.jpg” alt=”The crypto-friendly statesman assumes the Swiss presidency "width =" 300 "height =" 188 "srcset =" https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ueli-Maurer-300×188.jpg 300w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ueli-Maurer-768×480.jpg 768w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01 / Ueli-Maurer-696×435.jpg 696w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ueli-Maurer-672×420.jpg 672w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp – content / upload / 2019/01 / Ueli-Maurer.jpg 1000w "sizes =" (maximum width: 300px) 100vw, 300px”/>Ueli Maurer is among those politicians who have seen the threat to the leadership of Switzerland in the encrypted space. In May, he invited representatives of the Swiss financial authority Finma, the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) to a panel discussion on the issue.

Following the meeting, the SBA formed a working group to solve the problem. He was asked to create a series of procedures to follow for banks when they open accounts for entities that make transactions with cryptocurrencies. Since then, some Swiss banks have started to accept customers in the encrypted sector.

The new president has also been active on the international scene. At the G20 finance ministers meeting in Buenos Aires last July, Maurer shared his country's position on cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that digital resources and distributed accounting technologies offer great potential for financial services. At the summit, Switzerland also insisted on a uniform international approach to avoiding double taxation in the digital economy.

Do you think that the new Swiss president will positively influence the policies of Berne towards cryptocurrencies? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Department of Finance of Switzerland.

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