A-31-20 OBA-FINMA

In a judgment intended for publication, the Federal Court ruled on the method applicable for separating bank assets derived from a criminal offence from legal bank assets deposited in the same account (7B_65/2023 of 5 December 2025). In 2010, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (‘OAG’) opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of money laundering of assets derived from crimes committed in Russia (Art. 305bis(1) and (2) of the Swiss Criminal Code). In essence, the Russian[...]

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[...]

On September 26, 2025, the Federal Chambers adopted the latest revision of the anti-money laundering measures, which began in the summer of 2023. For the record, the government's bill had two parts. The first related to the introduction of an electronic register of beneficial owners of companies, through a new law on the transparency of legal entities and the identification of beneficial owners (LTPM). The second consisted of several amendments to the AMLA, the most controversial of which was the[...]

The MROS publishes ‘negative typologies’. The aim is to raise awareness among financial intermediaries (FIs) of the substance of the clarifications and to improve the quality of data to enable it to be processed efficiently, which is to be welcomed. It is not certain that this objective will be achieved, as some typologies leave practitioners perplexed. Here are a few thoughts from a practical perspective on some of the typologies published on 16 September 2025. Typology 2: In the absence[...]