Finoa and Bankhaus Scheich enable regulated trading of digital assets

Finoa and Bankhaus Scheich are expanding their partnership. The German custody provider is deepening its partnership with Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist AG, a leading securities trading bank to offer institutional investors full access to digital securities and assets.

Finoa: Berlin-based Startup offering professional digital asset custody

The Berlin-based startup Finoa GmbH, founded in 2018, offers digital assets custody solutions for professional investors. Next to custody, the startup offers prime brokerage and staking. Already in 2018, the company developed an innovative digital assets custody solution to provide institutional and professional investors with safe storage and management for digital assets while also maintaining a high degree of flexibility and accessibility of assets.

All services have been integrated in one platform. The platform allows users to store and manage digital assets in a secure manner. At the same time, Finoa’s platform offers direct access and a unique, intuitive user-experience for clients. Through its services, the leading provider of financial services for digital assets gives access to the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

Finoa is a qualified digital assets custodian under §64y, Para. 1, German Banking Act (KWG), and supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

Bankhaus Scheich: Leading securities trading bank with long tradition

Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist AG, founded 1985, is one of the leading securities trading banks on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB). The owner-managed bank offers services in regard to capital markets, bond trading, sales trading, and consulting. After recruiting a team of bond specialists from Reuters AG in 2002, the bank has expanded its product range to include OTC bond trading and included its capital markets business segment in 2018. After applying for additional licenses by the BaFin, the bank became a securities trading bank.

The bank has continuously diversified its product spectrum in the last years. Now, the expansion includes the area of digital assets. Under the brand tradias, Bankhaus Scheich will offer trading of digital assets. This service expansion follows the bank’s goal to adapt to the increasing digitalization through innovation and organic growth.

Crypto custodian and securities bank to offer digital assets trading

Finoa and Bankhaus Scheich enable regulated trading of digital assets by extending their partnership to offer a new institutional trading product. The goal is to provide clients with a trusted „all-in-one“ platform. The platform is tailored to investor needs related to digital assets.

As highlighted in the press release by Finoa, custody and trading are understood as two natural complements: Institutional investors prefer to buy and sell digital assets directly from safe custody. This in-custody trading, assists in not exposing investors to multiple transaction and counter-party risks throughout multiple trading venues. Through the partnership extension, in-custody trading is enabled.

What both partners bring to the table

The BaFin-supervised custodian Finoa will provide custody and settlement through specialized solutions, and thus, contributes the necessary technical expertise for the product offering. As Boris Ziganke, Member of the Board and Chief Operating Officer of Bankhaus Scheich, stated:

„With Finoa, we have an agile and secure crypto custodian as our partner. In the area of custody of digital assets, especially in the BaFin regulated environment, we perceive Finoa as a technical innovation leader within the EU.“

Therewith, Bankhaus Scheich brings decades of expertise as financial service provider to the table. Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Finoa, commented the announcement:

„The connection and provision of liquidity has always been the logical next step in our vision to provide institutional investors and companies with a custody and asset servicing solution. We are proud to have Bankhaus Scheich as a partner, who have proven their experience and expertise in trading financial instruments as one of the leading market makers on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) in its more than 35-year successful corporate history.“

Finoa clients can now profit from digital assets trading, legally set as a separate OTC offering under the brand tradias. In the mid-term, the trading services will be fully integrated into Finoa’s infrastructure. Then, efficient execution with one counter-party across trading venues directly from a Finoa digital asset account will be possible.

The extended partnership between the digital asset custodian and the Frankfurt securities specialist, allows for further professional trading of digital assets while maintaining a high degree of security and flexibility.