swiss blockchain firm smart valor wins regulator's approval - smart

ZURICH (Reuters)-
Swiss startup Smart Valor has become one of the few blockchain groups approved to operate in the Swiss financial market, paving the way for it to launch its own online investment platform later this year.
While the company has made progress in obtaining approval from market director FINMA to provide cryptocurrency services, most of the groups that operate their own digital currencyor blockchain —
The platform is not regulated by financial regulatory rules.
Switzerland is home to the Crypto Valley Center, where hundreds of virtual currency projects have opened in recent years.
But the lack of clarity in regulation and the lack of due diligence checks upset banks, causing them to cut access to financial services in most industries.
The approval of Smart Valor as a financial intermediary will bring greater trust to the blockchain group as it means it will be supervised to comply with the counter
Money laundering rules.
Smart Valor will not be supervised directly by FINMA, but by an association called VQF.
Regulatory authorities approved by FINMA
Money laundering compliance.
VQF confirmed on Wednesday that Smart Valor has been accepted as a member.
Both FINMA and VQF declined to comment on whether other companies operating blockchain platforms had received approval from financial intermediaries.
Smart Valor said it plans to launch an alternative investment online platform including cryptocurrency in the fourth quarter.
These assets will be "marked" on the platform supported by blockchain technology ".
"Most of these investments were previously provided to a small number of senior elites. net-
It is worth investing in individuals and institutional investors . "
"Tokenization has changed the way people have things, increased liquidity, and enabled wider investors to access those investment opportunities.
"The group says it is applying for a bank license to expand its product range, including securities investments planned for the first half of 2019.
"Before regulatory approval, the VALOR platform will expand its product scope to the asset area --
Equity and block chain of Block Chain Company-
"Related infrastructure projects, real estate, crypto funds, venture capital and private equity funds," the group said in a statement . ".