Anti-money laundering compliance in Switzerland: AMLA, SRO, KYC and transparency register
Since 1 October 2026 Switzerland has had a transparency register and revised duties for advisers. For financial intermediaries, fiduciaries, asset managers and family offices, requirements on identification, beneficial owners, risk assessment and documentation are tightening.
This topic page brings our content together: terms from financial intermediary to asset freeze, the CDB Forms A, I, K, S and T, guides to SRO membership and the AMLA revision, implementation checklists and the overviews of UBO thresholds and deadlines. The content explains rules and approaches and does not replace legal advice on individual cases.
Terms
- Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG)
- Financial intermediary (Swiss AMLA)
- Self-regulatory organisation (SRO)
- Supervisory organisation (SO)
- Financial Institutions Act (FinIA)
- Due diligence duties under the Swiss AMLA
- KYC (know your customer)
- KYB (Know Your Business)
- Ultimate beneficial owner (UBO)
- Controlling person (Kontrollinhaber)
- Form A
- Form K (controlling person)
- Form S (foundations)
- Form T (trusts)
- Form I (insurance wrapper)
- CDB 20 (Swiss banks’ due diligence agreement)
- Domiciliary company (Sitzgesellschaft)
- PEP (politically exposed person)
- Sanctions screening
- Sanctions and embargoes (SECO)
- Adverse media screening
- Source of funds
- Source of wealth
- Enhanced due diligence (EDD)
- Transaction monitoring
- AML risk assessment (institution-wide)
- Risk-based approach
- Periodic review
- AML unit and compliance officer
- Duty to report and right to report (AMLA and SCC)
- Suspicious activity report (MROS)
- Asset freeze (Art. 10 AMLA)
- TJPG (Swiss Transparency Act)
- Transparency register
- EU AMLR (Anti-Money Laundering Regulation)
- Automatic exchange of information (AEOI, CRS)
- FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)
- CARF (AEOI on crypto-assets)
- Private trust company (PTC)
- Family charter (family governance)
- Single family office and multi-family office
Overviews
Articles
- SRO membership in Switzerland: who must join, how the application works and how to choose an SRO
- AEOI, FATCA and CARF for family offices and fiduciaries: who reports what, and what changes in 2027
- The 2026 Swiss AMLA revision: when advisory work falls under anti-money laundering law and what follows
- The Swiss transparency register since 1 October 2026: what the TJPG requires of companies, trustees and family offices
- The EU AMLR from July 2027: what the single anti-money laundering rulebook means for Swiss family offices
- Determining UBOs across jurisdictions: why one threshold is not enough
- Opening a business bank account in Switzerland: which documents banks require and why applications fail
- Data protection in the family office: Swiss FADP, professional secrecy and outsourcing to software
Checklists
Decision guides
Services
Products
- FLIOREThe Family Office Operating System.
More topics
- Public procurement in Switzerland: procedures, criteria and bids
- Cybersecurity for SMEs: reporting duties, baseline protection and incident planning
- AI regulation: EU AI Act, AI governance and the Swiss perspective
- Data protection under the Swiss FADP and GDPR: duties, processes and evidence
- Requirements and projects: requirements engineering, HERMES and acceptance
LM
Reviewed by
Founder & CEO · MSc Innovation Management (FFHS) · PMP · IREB CPRE · Author of “Identity Over Discipline”
Mandates incl. EDA, MeteoSwiss, FSO, SERI, FINMA, Swisscom and BLS