The recent news gave space to the Suisse Secrets investigation which revealed irregularities committed by Credit Suisse, the second largest Swiss banking institution, at the center of alleged international business relations with disreputable individuals, including dictators and men devoted to merchandise various nature.
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The question is only one: “Using a blockchain all this would be possible”? The lawyer answers Fulvio Sarzana, professor of ‘Blockchain and Cybersecurity Law’ at the Free Mediterranean University of Bari and member of the group of experts on blockchain formed by the Ministry of Economic Development (Mise): “In the Credit Suisse case there was a reserved division and therefore all transactions took place in a covered, non-public manner. And this is a characteristic of the traditional banking system in which banking secrecy allows full ownership of what happens. So we must trust that the banks implement a system that allows the overcoming of banking secrecy ”.
To understand better it is necessary define Swiss banking secrecy, officially terminated in 2017. Prior to that date, the secrecy was already relative: the banks were in fact obliged to collaborate with the judiciary if there were investigations to the detriment of the holders of banking relationships. Subsequently, and therefore starting from 2018, Swiss banks began the automatic exchange of information with foreign tax authorities.
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The blockchain
“The blockchain – continues Sarzana – would tend to avoid situations of this type, first of all because a transfer of real money means that all intermediaries must register the transaction with customer due diligence. This means that, contrary to popular belief, the transactions that take place are recorded so that operators can identify all customers, according to the anti-money laundering regulations. So the banking systems that managed blockchain transactions would still have to record what happens “.
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Other characteristic of the blockchain it is immutability: when a transaction is recorded there is no way to change it or to cancel it, to do so it would be necessary to intervene on each of the thousands of nodes of the chain in which there is a trace of the same transaction. “Every transaction remains imprinted and everything is visible to everyone. To be able to identify a subject, it is necessary to know its public address and private key but, once you have this information, you cannot hide “. Supervisory and legal authorities can ask a credit institution to provide this information, just as they are able to request more information about transactions or account holders in the traditional banking system.
The technology is there, the will is hidden
In 2020, the Swiss chambers approved a law to regulate the blockchain, which has already partially entered into force and, starting from February 2021, it is possible to issue shares on the blockchain.
For culture at least, Switzerland is the cradle of both the blockchain and cryptocurrencies, so much so that the Canton of Zug boasts the title of “Crypto Valley” and, according to the 2021 report of Venture Capital CV VC, there are 14 unicorns, that is, companies with a value of over a billion dollars. The technology is available, the rules are there, so why don’t the banks (not just the Swiss ones, of course) rely on the blockchain? “Credit institutions do not want to lose control over their activities, the banking system is incompatible with a public blockchain. The blockchain would stimulate transparency and it will be difficult to adopt ”explains Sarzana.
The blockchain among Italian banks
The Italian Banking Association (ABI) promotes the “Spunta Banca Dlt” project for reporting on the blockchain, to which about 100 banks have joined. It is not a blockchain itself, it is a centralized system that inherits philosophies cryptographic of the blockchain that guarantee a high level of security and, through which, credit institutions can identify and correct any misalignments in interbank transactions.
The decree of January 13, 2022, relating to the procedures and deadlines within which digital wallet managers are obliged to cooperate with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the police was published in the Official Gazette on February 17, 2022 Italy is also moving: “There is an administrative discipline that precisely identifies the obligations for intermediaries”, concludes the lawyer Sarzana. One step closer towards taking on a new mentality, but it is only one step on a long ladder.