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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇱🇻 Latvia partly open Verified 2026-10-16
|
🇨🇭 Switzerland
partly open
Verified 2026-09-01
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | MiCA CASP authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, administered nationally by Latvijas Banka; specific Latvian implementing statute name not confirmed in this research pass. | No single crypto licence - regulated by economic function (FINMA token taxonomy; DLT Act 2021). Typical exchange/custodian/broker needs SRO/AMLA affiliation (e.g. VQF) plus, where deposits/custody are involved, a FinTech licence (Banking Act Art. 1b); larger deposit-taking needs a banking licence; a DLT trading facility needs FinMIA authorisation. |
| Regulator | Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia) is the lead CASP licensing/supervisory authority; sources note some residual/overlapping role for the FCMC on broader financial-market alignment, not fully reconciled in this pass. | FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) grants all prudential licences; for AML only, firms affiliate with a FINMA-recognised SRO (e.g. VQF). |
| Capital requirement | Latvia capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | Latvia timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | Latvia local substance is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | Latvia application cost is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | Latvia ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | Latvia passporting is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | Latvia mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | Latvia key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | Latvijas Banka has issued multiple CASP licences during 2025-2026, including to SIA AlphaRoute and Backpack, and reportedly Paybis (May 2026, per one directory source). Latvia offers free pre-licensing consultations and a formal Innovation Hub. | FINMA licensed the first DLT trading facility (BX Digital, 18 Mar 2025); Federal Council consultation (22 Oct 2025 - 6 Feb 2026) proposes to ABOLISH the FinTech licence and replace it with two new categories, Payment Instrument Institutions and Crypto-Institutions, under an amended Financial Institutions Act (FinIA). Confirmed timeline as of this check: new provisions are not expected to enter into force before 2027; existing FinTech-licensed firms will be automatically transitioned to the new Payment Instrument Institution licence without a fresh application, provided they meet the new rules within one year of entry into force. The reform also removes the current CHF 100m deposit cap and adds client-fund segregation on insolvency. FINMA Guidance 01/2026 on crypto custody (12 Jan 2026). |
| Difficulty rating | Latvia difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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