B-04-29 FINMA Guidance 05/2021

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[...]

In a ruling dated September 24, 2025, the Federal Court reiterated that the offense of money laundering requires intent on the part of the perpetrator, at least in the form of eventual intent, and that a single violation of anti-money laundering rules, even a significant one, does not in itself allow such intent to be inferred (6B_1180/2023). The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland accused a bank employee of opening bank accounts using false customer data and, between 2003[...]

A client's legal action was dismissed on the grounds that she had failed to sufficiently allege the hypothetical scenario of how transactions would have unfolded if the bank had acted in accordance with its contractual obligations. She was suing her Swiss bank to claim reimbursement for a loss resulting from the sale of options on Russian shares (4A_657/2024 of September 1, 2025). In November 2021, a Bahamian company had sold put options on American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of shares in[...]

In its judgment 5A_802/2024 of 28 August 2025 (intended for publication), the Federal Supreme Court ruled on the question of whether freezing orders issued on the basis of the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (Ukraine Ordinance) take precedence over enforcement under the Federal Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (LP). In July 2024, the Zurich Debt Enforcement Office issued a decision suspending enforcement proceedings initiated under the DEBA. The proceedings concerned assets that were also frozen[...]