The State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) is a Swiss Federal Government agency which is responsible for representing Switzerland in international matters related to finance. It is also responsible for the implementation of financial market policies dictated by the Swiss federal council as they relate to other countries and to international regulatory organizations.
The purpose of the SIF is to enable access to foreign financial markets and to facilitate Switzerland’s role as an international financial center.
In its role as international coordinator, the SIF played a direct role in the implementation of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) and leads the Qualification Committee AEOI in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
In addition to its core activities, the SIF also takes steps to monitor developments in financial markets insofar as they relate to Switzerland. To this end, it heads up various working groups, including the Blockchain/ICO Working Group which aims to propose technology-neutral legislation relating to the role of blockchain technology and initial coin offerings (ICOs) as they relate to finance.
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