As part of its mission to facilitate the adoption and use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in financial markets, the CMTA has developed a set of AML standards. These standards are designed to clarify for both issuers of digital assets and financial intermediaries dealing with such issuers or digital assets measures to be taken in order to comply with the Swiss regulations against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The standards aim to create a framework that facilitates the use of DLT – in particular blockchain technology – and the opportunities this brings to financing businesses, while preventing issuers of digital assets from being recipients of illicit funds.

CMTA’s standards have no statutory or regulatory status and are not compulsory. They represent a consensus among significant actors in the financial sector as to how applicable rules and regulations can be complied with and more generally an expression of good practice for the treatment of digital assets.

Natacha Polli, chair of CMTA’s AML committee, commented “Compliance with regulations against money laundering and the financing of terrorism is an overriding concern for the industry. Up to now, the lack of standards and clear guidance has prevented both businesses and financial intermediaries from harnessing the full potential of DLT. By adopting practice-oriented, industry-supported standards, the CMTA intends to unlock the huge potential that the blockchain technology represents for the financial sector”.

Fedor Poskriakov, CMTA’s General Secretary, said: “DLT is creating many opportunities for our economy. With these AML standards, our association is laying the groundwork for future developments, and paving the way for a compliant tokenisation of financial assets. It is a first step in this direction”.