KnowledgebaseKYC Onboarding in Switzerland: AMLA Rules
What compliant KYC onboarding under Swiss AMLA must establish: contracting party, beneficial owner, purpose and risk, and where files fail an SRO audit.
KYC Onboarding in Switzerland: AMLA Rules: Read Knowledgebase
AML & KYC Compliance
Swiss AML frameworks, the outsourced compliance officer, KYC onboarding and SRO-audit readiness for financial intermediaries and fiduciaries.
Our AML & Compliance servicesSwiss anti-money-laundering law, the AMLA (GwG), places continuing duties on every financial intermediary: identify the contracting party, establish the beneficial owner, monitor the relationship by risk, and report well-founded suspicion to the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS). For an intermediary without a prudential licence, those duties are supervised through affiliation with a FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisation, and audited every year.
Most failures are quiet ones: an incomplete beneficial-owner file, a risk assessment written once and never updated, source-of-funds reasoning an SRO auditor cannot follow. The guides here cover what the obligations require, how compliant onboarding is built, and what an SRO audit looks for. The Firm can also hold the AML-officer role under mandate.
Articles on aml & kyc compliance
Swiss AML Obligations Explained (AMLA / GwG)
The due-diligence duties Swiss AML law imposes on financial intermediaries: identify the client, find the beneficial owner, monitor by risk and report to MROS.
Swiss AML Obligations Explained (AMLA / GwG): ReadSRO Switzerland: Self-Regulatory Organisation Explained
What a Swiss SRO is, what it supervises, the eleven FINMA-recognised SROs, and how AMLA affiliation differs from a FINMA licence, explained plainly.
SRO Switzerland: Self-Regulatory Organisation Explained: ReadRelated topics
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Banking FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
01What are the core duties under the Swiss AMLA?
Identify the contracting party, establish the beneficial owner, monitor the business relationship in proportion to its risk, and report well-founded suspicion to the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS). The duties are continuing: they do not end when onboarding does.
02Who supervises an intermediary without a FINMA licence?
A FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisation, through affiliation and an annual audit. The SRO applies the AMLA to its members and reports to FINMA, which is what makes affiliation the practical alternative to a prudential licence for many intermediaries.
03What does an SRO audit usually find?
Quiet failures rather than dramatic ones: an incomplete beneficial-owner file, a risk assessment written once and never revisited, source-of-funds reasoning that an auditor cannot follow. The findings that cost the most are often last year's points left open.
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