FINMA Publishes Revised Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance Ahead of FATF Evaluation

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has published its final, partially revised Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, marking a significant milestone in Switzerland’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its regulatory framework. The updated ordinance takes into direct account recent legislative changes made to the federal Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) as well as corresponding adjustments introduced by the Federal Council.

This comprehensive revision comes at a crucial time for the Swiss financial center. FINMA undertook these extensive regulatory updates primarily in view of Switzerland’s upcoming mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The FATF, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, regularly assesses member jurisdictions to ensure their legal, regulatory, and operational frameworks meet rigorous international standards for combating financial crime. By updating its supervisory ordinance, Switzerland aims to demonstrate its continued commitment to maintaining the integrity, stability, and transparency of its world-renowned financial marketplace.

In tandem with the publication of the revised ordinance, the FINMA Board of Directors has formally recognized two newly revised sets of industry self-regulation as official minimum standards. The first of these recognized frameworks is the updated code of conduct on due diligence established by Swiss banks. The second comprises the revised regulations put forward by the self-regulatory body of the Swiss Insurance Association, known as SRO-SVV. Both of these industry-led revisions were driven by the exact same regulatory pressures and strategic objectives that shaped FINMA’s own updated ordinance, ensuring a cohesive and harmonized approach across different sectors of the financial industry.

All three regulatory pillars—FINMA’s revised Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance and the two recognized self-regulatory standards—are scheduled to formally come into force on January 1, 2027. To help financial institutions navigate the regulatory changes and update their internal systems, policies, and compliance procedures, each set of self-regulation will benefit from a dedicated four-month transition period following the implementation date. This transition window is designed to give banks, insurers, and other affected financial intermediaries adequate time to operationalize the new requirements without causing undue disruption to their day-to-day business activities.

The path toward these final texts involved a comprehensive consultation process, during which market participants and industry associations provided extensive feedback. Following this consultation phase, FINMA carefully reviewed the commentary and subsequently amended several specific rules, most notably those governing correspondent banking relationships with foreign banks. The targeted change provides much-needed legal certainty by explicitly clarifying that Article 37, paragraph 5, applies strictly to clients who maintain direct access to the accounts held by the correspondent bank. This distinction helps financial institutions better understand the precise scope of their oversight obligations when dealing with cross-border structures.

Furthermore, many of the consultation responses sought granular clarity on a wide variety of specific compliance provisions. To address these industry concerns constructively, FINMA has incorporated detailed explanations directly into its official explanatory notes accompanying the ordinance. One prominent example concerns the transparency rules governing ownership and control structures. The newly updated notes now elaborate comprehensively on how this specific transparency requirement effectively complements broader existing rules addressing complex corporate structures and domiciliary companies.

In addition to ownership transparency, the explanatory notes provide valuable guidance on the practical application of the risk-based approach and the associated documentation requirements that financial intermediaries must uphold. These additions are designed to eliminate ambiguity, ensuring that compliance officers can implement robust internal controls that satisfy both domestic legal mandates and international expectations.

The explanatory notes also delve deeply into new, highly relevant measures aimed at preventing breaches of economic sanctions enacted under the Embargo Act. Specifically, the notes outline how the established regulatory rule concerning the continuous monitoring of business relationships and financial transactions should be applied by analogy to sanctions compliance. As geopolitical tensions and international trade restrictions continue to evolve, this clarification provides financial institutions with a clearer roadmap for integrating sanctions screening seamlessly into their broader anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing compliance architectures.

Beyond the core ordinance and self-regulatory frameworks, the broader overhaul of the Swiss legislative landscape has expanded the scope of the revised AMLA to now encompass certain categories of advisory services. Because these advisory activities fall under the updated statutory definition of financial intermediation, FINMA is required to make corresponding amendments to its existing regulatory framework. Consequently, the supervisory authority is amending Circular 2011/1, which governs the legal interpretation of acting as a financial intermediary under the AMLA.

To accompany these regulatory adjustments, FINMA has issued separate, dedicated guidance that explicitly sets out the expanded scope of the revised circular. This separate guidance also provides crucial clarity regarding the division of responsibility for the supervision of advisory work, ensuring that both traditional financial institutions and newly captured advisory providers understand their regulatory obligations and supervisory reporting lines moving forward.