B-04-29 FINMA Guidance 05/2021

The Federal Court confirms the applicability of the general terms and conditions to the opening of a sub-account and denies that the bank committed gross negligence in failing to detect fraudulent orders (4A_76/2025 of 21 August 2025). The client, a wealthy businessman, has had numerous business dealings with the bank since 2005. The bank's general terms and conditions contain a complaint clause, requiring the client to contest orders or instructions immediately after notification, but no later than within the specified[...]

On 25 November, Switzerland entered the era of Open Banking with the launch of the ‘bLink’ platform operated by SIX. This development places Switzerland within an international movement that aims to promote the sharing of financial data via standardised interfaces, in order to offer customers greater access to innovative services offered by a variety of financial service providers. Open Banking is defined as a standardised model for sharing financial data, which aims to facilitate the exchange of information between financial[...]

In a ruling dated 16 September 2025, the Federal Court confirmed that the publication for five years on the FINMA website of a decision prohibiting a person from carrying out an activity subject to authorisation under financial market law without the necessary authorisation is justified (2C_596/2024 of 16 September 2025) . This ruling is based on the same facts as ruling 2C_597/2024 of 16 September 2025 (commented on in: Dupuis, cdbf.ch/1440/). In summary, a company and its three main shareholders,[...]

The criminal prosecution authority may refuse to seal documents that a bank must keep available for the criminal authorities in accordance with Article 7 AMLA, even if the documents were drawn up by lawyers. This conclusion, reached by the Federal Supreme Court in a ruling dated October 2, 2025—not intended for publication but handed down by five judges—is in line with the trend in case law relating to attorney-client privilege in the context of anti-money laundering (7B_1154/2024). In 2023, the[...]