The Swiss system has two routes to a suspicious activity report: a duty and a right. The distinction decides whether a financial intermediary must report or may report, and with it the risk of not doing so.
The duty to report
Under Art. 9 AMLA a financial intermediary must report to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) without delay if it knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that assets are connected with money laundering, a felony, an aggravated tax misdemeanour or terrorist financing. Since the 2023 revision the act defines reasonable suspicion: it exists when there is a concrete indication or several indications and the suspicion cannot be dispelled by the special clarifications.
The right to report
Art. 305ter para. 2 of the Criminal Code entitles financial intermediaries to report observations suggesting that assets derive from a felony. The threshold is lower than reasonable suspicion. It is meant for cases where doubts remain but the clarifications have not produced reasonable suspicion.
After the report
MROS then analyses the case. During this time the financial intermediary executes client orders involving substantial assets only in a way that allows the assets to be traced. If it receives no notice from MROS within 40 working days, it may terminate the relationship. It must not disclose the report to the client. An asset freeze follows if MROS forwards the report to a prosecution authority.
Documentation
Whether or not a report is made, the reasoning belongs in the file. A traceable explanation of why a suspicion was or was not dispelled is what an audit will later want to see. Preparation usually lies with the AML unit.