Falcon Private Bank, which is in a state of upheaval, has entered into a cooperation with Bitcoin provider Bitcoin Suisse. What is behind the Swiss private bank's move?
Customers of Falcon Private Bank can now purchase, sell and manage Bitcoin directly via online banking or via their customer adviser. You can also check your Bitcoin account online - or by means of your account statement.
Falcon is, according to its own data, the first Swiss private bank to provide its customers with blockcoin asset management solutions as part of the new collaboration with Bitcoin Suisse. This was announced by the Zurich-based bank earlier this week.
In addition, a Bitcoin cash machine has been installed in the lobby of the Zurich headquarters of Falcon Private Bank, which is open to the public during business hours.
The new Beginning
This service, approved by Swiss financial regulator Finma, underlines the strategic repositioning of Falcon.
The Zurich private bank, still reeling from its involvement in the 1MDB scandal, called for a fresh start last March. Against this backdrop, Falcon entered a strategic partnership with Swiss fintech Move Digital last April, as finews.ch reported.
The aim of the collaboration is to make Move Digital's Digital Asset Management and Investment Advisory Platform available to the rich clientele of the bank.
But Not in Singapore
Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank had the dubious honour of being the second bank forced to shut down in Singapore because of ties to alleged corruption and money-laundering, over its dealings with 1MDB, a Malaysian state fund which remains at the center of a billion-dollar graft probe.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, ordered Falcon to stop operating due to «serious failures in anti-money laundering controls and improper conduct by senior management at the head office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore Branch.»
Bitcoins at Banks
Niklas Nikolajsen, founder and CEO of Bitcoin Suisse, described the cooperation with Falcon as a «historic milestone» for the entire cryptosector.
Nikolaisen predicted last year that European banks would soon offer bitcoin accounts.
The fact that Bitcoins are gradually having an influence in banks is also illustrated by the launch of the Vontobel bitcoin tracker certificate, which Bank Vontobel recently had listed on the Swiss stock exchange.
The Swiss canton of Zug, because of its many blockchain startups also called «Crypto Valley,» acknowledges and accepts Bitcoin as a means of payment for public services.
