We are SEBA. Technology and Finance, in real time.
The perfect symbiosis of Technology, Blockchain and Banking – we at SEBA pursue the mission of redefining finance for the new economy by building a pioneering technological bridge between the digital and traditional asset worlds.
With a FINMA banking and securities dealer licence, SEBA is able to close an important gap between the new digital economy and traditional banking. We believe that the proliferation of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is leading to the formation of new markets and innovative ways of creating value. Therefore, we combine technological advances with the proven elements of traditional banking. Regulation is crucial for the protection of investors – the idea of an integrated and supervised bank with focus on digital assets arose from the growing demand for investment alternatives and the increasing affinity for technology and process engineering.
SEBA enables professional individuals and companies as well as institutional clients to invest, safely keep, trade and borrow against digital and traditional assets, all in one place. For Swiss Blockchain companies SEBA will provide accounts and custody for fiat and digital assets. SEBA’s team aims to redefine finance and set new standards for security, transparency and performance. It consists of a experts in the area of technology, information security, blockchain and finance.
Who are the People at SEBA?
Our team represents a balance of genuine expertise in technology, information security and the crypto economy, coupled with banking talent that have been at the forefront of innovation in the industry.
Get to know our spirit
Michele Federici
Security Specialist
Short: “PS1DR3X”
How important are communities in coding and how do you improve your own coding skills?”
"I've always been a strong believer of knowledge sharing and I think that everything in the world can be improved through collaboration. It's no coincidence that most of the magical technologies that we have today are built on top of open source code. I started coding when I was really young and I never stopped learning. I think the best way to constantly improve is just to always be curious!"
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Alena Nicolai
Head of Risk
Short: AAA-Lena
“Low risk, more fun? How do you personally balance risk and opportunity?”
“My personal balance is often a mix of gut feeling and head decision. There were times when I set myself special private goals more often, e.g. to experience the most fantastic powder ski run on ski tours. My main goal at SEBA is to understand all risks as comprehensively as possible, to minimize them and to have fun at work.”
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Urs Bernegger
Head of Trading & Credit Platform
Short: Master of Markets
Trading in 1984 vs. trading today – What has changed? After 35 years, what makes your profession still interesting to you?
“The technology has made a trader’s work much more efficient. It’s an exciting task to transfer technological advances from the foreign exchange market to the crypto space and act as a market maker helping customers navigate in this highly volatile but interesting environment.”
Our Executive Team
The executive team at SEBA is dedicated to upholding the company's core business principles: safety, transparency and performance.
Executive Management
Guido Buehler
Chief Executive Officer
Guido is a visionary whose expertise is grounded in global corporate finance. He is deeply proficient in banking, risk, asset and wealth management. Guido built and led large global teams at one of Switzerland’s largest banks, and had an influence shaping market infrastructure with the ECB and DTCC. Most recently, he founded award winning strategic advisory and risk & research firm B&B Analytics.
Philipp Baretta
Head Client & Investment Solutions
Philipp is an expert in capital markets, investment delivery and risk management. His distinguished career spans over three decades, leading regional and global teams out of Zurich and New York with positions in FX trading, capital markets and UHNWI solutions at various major international banks.
Urs Bernegger
Head of Trading & Credit Platform
Urs is an expert of global Foreign Exchange Markets. He has spent more than three decades building and managing voice and electronic trading businesses out of Switzerland and the US. Throughout his career, he has held senior banking management positions at two renowned Swiss banks.
Alistair Heggie
Chief Operating Officer
Alistair has 25 years of experience in financial services, working for tier-1 banks, leading consultancy firms and entrepreneurial start-ups. Alistair holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University, and has a proven track record in different cross-functional areas such as CTO, COO and CRO. Alistair has led domestic and global teams in enterprise architecture, operational risk control, business management, change management and information architecture.
Oliver Deak
Chief Technology Officer
Oliver is a financial technology leader with a 20 year professional track record as a Systems & Software Engineer, Architect and Team Leader. He has a deep hands-on technical expertise, a strong passion for crypto finance and has also led large software delivery functions in a tier-1 investment banking environment.
David Matter
Chief Financial Officer
David is a banking expert with more than 30 years of experience in various management positions in key corporate functions in the Swiss and international financial industry. His career includes positions such as CEO, Chief of Staff and Head of the CRO Management Office.
Markus Blattmann
Chief Risk Officer
Markus is a risk professional with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has extensive emerging market experience, both in investment and in private baking. Prior to joining SEBA, he has served as Chief Risk Officer Asia for a large Swiss private bank. Markus holds a Master’s degree in law.
Matthew Alexander
Head Asset Tokenization
Matthew is an expert in capital markets, investment banking, corporate strategy and principal investing, with 22 years of experience in the U.S., Europe, Latam and Asia. Most recently Matthew has focussed on shaping digital banking strategy & managing strategic digital banking investments for one of Switzerland's largest private banks.
Nina Gartmann
Head Legal & Compliance
Nina is a Swiss qualified attorney-at-law holding a law degree from the University of St. Gallen. She has extensive experience in the financial sector due to her former roles in the legal & compliance departments of Swiss and international companies. Prior to joining SEBA she served as Head Compliance of a Swiss private bank.
Board of directors
Päivi Rekonen
Chair of the Board of Directors
Mrs Päivi Rekonen is a seasoned banking and technology professional. Her international career has been shaped by senior functions at numerous of the world’s largest technology companies combined with technology transformation and digitalisation experience at UBS, Credit Suisse and Adecco. Her board experience with both software startups and publicly listed companies is also a distinct positive in terms of guidance for the executive committee.
Sébastien Mérillat
Vice Chairman of the Board
Sébastien is one of the founders of SEBA Crypto AG and an astute entrepreneur and investor. He brings deep knowledge of entrepreneurship and technology to the Board.
Hans Kuhn
Member of the Board
Hans Kuhn is a practicing attorney specialized in banking and blockchain law. He is also co-founder and/or board member of several fintech startups. Before joining private practice he served as general counsel and head shared services of Swiss National Bank.
Reto Kunz
Member of the Board
Reto is a distinguished and respected banker with deep aptitude in risk control. He will lead the Board in matters relating to risk.
Guy Schwarzenbach
Member of the Board
Guy is a global investor with an acute perspective on the requirements of multi-asset investors. His expertise augments proficiency in the areas of crypto and strategic business models.
Francis Leung
Member of the Board
Francis has been an investment banker in Hong Kong for more than thirty years. He is known for his leading efforts to bring Chinese companies to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has been referred to as the “Father of the Red Chips”.
Evangelia Kostakis
Member of the Board
Evie Kostakis, CFA, is the Deputy CFO at Julius Baer. Prior to Julius Baer, Evie worked in New York and Athens in corporate finance, wealth and asset management at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and others. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.
Choon Wee (Joseph) Chee
Member of the Board
Mr. Chee is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Swiss Education Group. He has been the Chairman of Summer Capital and held various senior leadership positions with UBS AG. Mr. Chee has 20+ years experience as a finance professional and holds an MBA from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Our Partners
Media & Newsroom
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Research report
DeFi Investment Strategies: A Performance Review
15 October, 2020
In this edition of The Digital Investor, we evaluate the performance of different DeFi portfolios. We test three different approaches – hold ETH as it is the major asset that gives exposure to DeFi, buy/sell governance tokens of different DeFi platforms, and ‘earning’ governance tokens through yield farming. Within buy/sell we test three different strategies: momentum-based, rule-based, and DeFi Degen.
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News release
SEBA Bank appoints Päivi Rekonen as Chair to its Board of Directors
25 September, 2020
Päivi Rekonen joins SEBA Bank as Chair to the Board of Directors with immediate effect taking over from Sébastien Mérillat, Chair ad interim.
The Board of Directors is further strengthened with the appointment of Hans Kuhn and Sanjeev Karkhanis.
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Research report
Are blockchains that safe? How to attack them and how to prevent these attacks (Part 1)
24 September, 2020
In this edition of The Bridge, we explore some well-known attacks which are commonly used to compromise blockchain networks and discuss how consensus mechanisms such as Proof of Stake and Proof of Work may offer some (if limited) preventative measures to combat attacks.
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SEBA Bank AG
Kolinplatz 15
6300 Zug
Switzerland
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