Bitcoin Suisse AG, a Switzerland-based broker, asset manager and financial services provider specializing in crypto-assets, has announced that Urs Bigger, Luzius Meisser and Arthur Vayloyan will be appointed to the Board of Directors. Urs Bigger brings more than 25 years of experience in bank compliance and regulatory management to the firm. Luzius Meisser is a computer scientist, economist and co-founder of the Bitcoin Association Switzerland. Arthur Vayloyan was appointed CEO of Bitcoin Suisse effective 20 November 2017. Niklas Nikolajsen will continue to shape the strategy of Bitcoin Suisse and its implementation as executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-CEO. Niklas Nikolajsen, Founder and Chairman of Bitcoin Suisse, said: “Blockchain technology and assets based on it like Bitcoin and Ethereum are at an inflection point. Crypto finance, crypto assets and tokenization will have a major role to play in the future of finance. They will enable our clients to build better businesses, to make better investments and to save costs. The next step lies in the broad-based commercialization and the scalable and secure deployment of blockchain technology in banking, wealth management and private equity. This requires the close collaboration of financial services and technology experts. We are therefore very pleased to welcome three outstanding experts to our Board of Directors. Urs Bigger is a compliance expert with a track record spanning more than 25 years. Most recently he was Head of Legal and Compliance at Falcon Private Bank. In that role he oversaw all legal and regulatory aspects of the launch of the first Bitcoin offering at a Swiss private bank, working with FINMA. During his career he was a compliance officer at Credit Suisse First Boston and Bank Julius Baer, and from 1999 to 2004 Head of Group Compliance at Credit Suisse Group. In 2004 Urs Bigger founded a consultancy advising financial intermediaries on compliance. He is the founder and honorary Chairman of the Swiss Association of Compliance Officers. Urs graduated with a Master of Laws from the University of Zurich. As a member of the Board of Directors of Bitcoin Suisse, he will work closely with regulators and help shape the commercial applications of blockchain technology, meeting the highest standards in terms of compliance and client suitability. Luzius Meisser is a computer scientist, economist, and recognized Bitcoin and crypto asset expert. Following his studies in computer science at ETH Zurich, he served as CTO of the encrypted cloud storage service Wuala. In 2013 he went on to do his second Master’s degree, this time in Economics at the University of Zurich, and provided seed funding for a number of Swiss startups, among them the data-driven banking platform ContoVista. He has been closely following the development of Bitcoin since 2011 and is an active member of the Swiss Bitcoin and blockchain community. In 2013 he co-founded and chaired Bitcoin Association Switzerland, where he still serves as a board member. An associate of Niklas Nikolajsen since the early days of Bitcoin Association Switzerland, he currently runs the research consultancy Meisser Economics. Arthur Vayloyan is CEO of Bitcoin Suisse. Most recently he was Global Head Products & Services and Member of the Executive Board of Falcon Private Bank. While in this role he and his team launched the first private banking offering based on blockchain solutions globally. From 1992 until 2013 he worked at Credit Suisse, where he established the bank as a pioneer for investment opportunities in microfinance and spearheaded the creation of the bank’s award-winning advisory process. He held various senior management positions at Credit Suisse, including Global Head Investment Services and Products, Head Private Banking Switzerland and Global Head External Asset Management. Arthur Vayloyan earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Berne and an MBA from INSEAD. The following persons will be elected members of the Board of Directors at the upcoming extraordinary General Assembly:
