Federal Council approves Swiss Green Fintech network
State Secretariat for International Financial Matters aims at close cooperation between Swiss experts in digital technology and capital sustainability
The Federal Council sees sustainability in the financial sector as a major opportunity for the Swiss financial centre. Likewise, it considers the combination of sustainable financial services and digital technologies (so-called “green fintech”) to be particularly promising.
For this reason, the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), together with industry representatives, officially launched the “Green Fintech” network on November 3, 2020.
At a virtual meeting with industry representatives, Daniela Stoffel laid the foundation stone for the project. Through the network, the IFC and the Secretary of State herself aim to establish close cooperation with Swiss experts in this ecosystem.
Investments up 62 percent in 2019
The network therefore represents the most important players in this innovative sector, namely: green fintech companies; similar associations; venture capital firms; universities and universities of applied sciences; consulting firms and law firms.
Sustainable investments in Switzerland have increased significantly over the past ten years. From CHF 40.6 billion ($42.7 billion) in 2009 to CHF 1.16 trillion ($1.2 trillion), a 62 percent jump during 2019 alone.
In June 2020, the Federal Council adopted two key directives on sustainability in the financial sector.
They explicitly require the country to “continuously improve” the competitiveness of the Swiss financial centre and, at the same time, to “contribute effectively to sustainability”.
The results of the work in spring 2021
The task of the “Green Fintech” network is first of all to identify the areas that require an improvement in the framework conditions for carrying out fintech activities in Switzerland. It will then propose concrete measures to the government and private companies and support their implementation. The “Green Fintech” network will also ensure that the results of the initial work are set out in an action plan, to be published in spring 2021.
Already in 2017, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SFI) enabled Swiss pension funds and insurance companies to measure the environmental impact of securities and portfolios free of charge.
Currently, the federal agencies are testing cases of normal use with banks and asset managers. The results of these “experiments” are expected to be released by the end of the year.