The FC introduced a new FinTech licence, which allows institutions to accept public deposits of up to CHF 100 million, provided that these are not invested and no interest is paid on them.
The council also made corresponding amendments to the Banking Act.
A further requirement is that an institution with a FinTech licence must have its registered office and conduct its business activities in Switzerland.
The council added that the simplified requirements will be fleshed out by amendments to the Banking Ordinance (BankO), the Auditor Oversight Ordinance and the FINMA Fees and Charges Ordinance.
The council added that, in the BankO, the sandbox will additionally be extended to include crowd lending business models, whereby public funds up to CHF 1 million can one day be brokered for private consumption.
The council explained:
"This extension became possible because crowd lending will be subject to the Consumer Credit Act in the future. As it will take time to implement these rules, the changes to consumer credit law and the associated amendment of the BankO will not come into force until 1 April 2019."
The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which will be responsible for granting the FinTech licence, has also released guidelines aimed at simplifying the application process.
The guidelines set out the information and documents applications must submit, including the reasons for applying, a description of the proposal, information about the premises, infrastructure and personnel as well as the governing bodies.
Applicants should also provide, among others, information in respect of the business activity and internal organisation, such as a business plan including budget for the next three financial years with "optimistic, realistic and pessimistic scenarios", information on the outsourcing of activities and on any conflicts of interest, as well as evidence of compliance with the minimum capital requirements.