Page 4 - ASSET MANAGER 10 (EN)

4 • DIGITAL TEST
REVIEWING REGULATORY BARRIERS
FOR DIGITIALISATION
On behalf of the Federal Council, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO conducted a survey to examine where existing legislation relevant to economic policy unnecessarily hinders digitalisation or where it is becoming redundant as a result of digital development.
Excerpts from the results report of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research WBF
For the survey, business associations, trade unions, various companies and consumer protection organi- sations were interviewed. The survey was also acces- sible to other interested parties via the Internet.
Feedback on the survey showed that there is a good environment for the digital economy in Switzerland. That the Federal Council has already taken on a number of important tasks, such as data policy, the revision of the Data Protection Act and telecommunications law, was also recognised.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
Although many legal transactions can be concluded without any formal requirements, the formal require- ments of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220) specifically, according to various submissions, are not geared enough toward the increasing transfer of busi- ness and contractual relationships to the Internet. This especially applies to the unequal treatment of written and electronic communication/volition. The possibility of re- placing a handwritten signature with a qualified electronic signature, according to ZertES, has not yet been widely
accepted in practice, due to the organisational and tech- nical effort involved (in some cases, corresponding de- mands were made to check or simplify the requirements for the qualified electronic signature). Thus, the written form required by law for certain transactions – despite a qualified electronic signature – stands in the way of electronic transaction processing, which restricts com- panies.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
The regulation of the financial sector was the subject of about one-fifth of the submissions, with the fintech system in focus. Digitalisation-friendly regulations were welcomed by all sides and considered necessary for the innovative capacity of the Swiss financial centre.
Several submissions addressed the high entry thresholds for a bank licence for fintech (capital requirements, capital regulations, etc.). Since many digital business models are associated with the receipt of public funds (e.g. crowd- funding), they fall within the scope of banking regulations. Loosening these would remove the hurdles for the imple- mentation of innovative business ideas.