Switzerland: 4 anti-money laundering bodies

Discover the four leading Swiss bodies specialising in the fight against money laundering, and gain a complete understanding of how Swiss financial intermediaries are regulated and supervised.

#1 FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority

Established on 1 January 2009, FINMA is an independent supervisory authority responsible for overseeing numerous financial intermediaries, such as banks, stock exchanges and insurance intermediaries. Its role is therefore to protect creditors, policyholders and investors while ensuring the smooth functioning of the financial markets.

With the complete independence afforded by its status as a public-law institution with its own legal personality, FINMA carries out its various duties using the tools at its disposal, in particular supervision, licensing and the enforcement of supervisory law.

Every four years, the organisation’s Board of Directors sets FINMA’s objectives, subject to approval by the Federal Council. With strategic management handled by the Board of Directors and operational management by the Executive Board, FINMA’s structure is designed to enable it to fulfil its mandate efficiently, using all the financial resources at its disposal appropriately and responsibly.

It represents Switzerland’s ethical approach to regulation on the international stage, working alongside national authorities within bodies specialising in financial market supervision.

Email: info@finma.ch

Telephone: +41 31 327 91 00

Address: 27 Laupenstrasse, 3003 Bern, Switzerland

Feel free to follow the organisation’s Twitter and LinkedIn accounts!

#2 MROS, the Money Laundering Reporting Office

Attached to the Federal Office of Police (fedpol), MROS (the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland) is a reporting office that relays and screens all communications between financial intermediaries and the criminal prosecution authorities.

It is a central national body which, in accordance with the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA, in particular Articles 9 and 23), forwards to the competent authorities all reports from financial intermediaries concerning suspicions of:

• money laundering;
• the financing of terrorism;
• criminal organisations;
• the holding of funds of criminal origin.

In addition to its reporting role, MROS publishes anonymised statistics every year on developments in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and organised crime in Switzerland. It should be noted that the office is not a police authority, unlike certain Swiss regulatory bodies, but rather an administrative authority responsible for specific functions.

Like FINMA, MROS is active on the international stage, in particular through its membership of the Egmont Group, an international association that aims to make the exchange of information between competent authorities more secure, faster and easier in the fight against money laundering.

Email: mros.info@fedpol.admin.ch

Telephone: +41 58 463 40 40

Address: 1A Guisanplatz, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

To contact MROS, please visit the dedicated page.

#3 SROs, self-regulatory organisations

Organised under private law, SROs are self-regulatory organisations whose main task is to ensure that financial intermediaries comply with the various obligations set out in the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). Indeed, all intermediaries operating under the standards set out in the AMLA are required to join an SRO officially recognised by FINMA.

SROs therefore draw up regulations in line with AMLA standards and then supervise all the financial intermediaries affiliated with them to ensure these are properly complied with.

The regulations drawn up by SROs cover, in particular:

• identity verification;
• identification of the beneficial owner;
• provisions concerning the method used by the SRO to check compliance with the standards;
• the nature of any penalties;
• any suspected cases of money laundering (which must be reported).

It should be noted that SROs are themselves supervised by FINMA, which can either carry out inspections of them directly or appoint audit firms to do so. Furthermore, if an SRO no longer meets the conditions required for recognition by FINMA, FINMA may withdraw its status.

To be recognised by FINMA, SROs must, in particular:

• have valid regulations in place to be enforced;
• ensure that their affiliated intermediaries comply properly with these regulations;
• provide a guarantee of the irreproachable nature of their activity;
• guarantee that any audit firms appointed to enforce their regulations also comply with the requirements set out in the AMLA.

#4 SO-FIT, the supervisory body for financial intermediaries and trustees

SO-FIT is a non-profit association whose activity is authorised by FINMA, comprising two members: the Geneva Association of Wealth Managers and the Association of Wealth Managers of the Lake Geneva Region and the Mittelland.

SO-FIT has spent many years combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, ensuring both the regulation of financial intermediaries and prudential supervision of asset managers and trustees.

To this end, the association draws on its close relationship with its members, whose activities, skills and team experience (particularly in legal matters) it knows inside out, as well as its pragmatism and unfailing adaptability!

SO-FIT makes a point of keeping its affiliates and members regularly informed, and publishes all the latest news about the association’s activities on its website.

Email: secretariat@so-fit.ch

Telephone: +41 (0)22 700 73 20

Address: 2 Rue Pedro-Meylan, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland