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All companies and legal entities in Switzerland, including lawyers and notaries, will have to disclose beneficial owners in the future Federal Disclosure Register, in order to make money laundering or the evasion of sanctions even more difficult. This is the proposal of a preliminary draft law sent for consultation by the Swiss government until November 29th. The planned measures correspond to the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter.
In the minister’s opinion, the equipment already available to the Confederation to fight against money laundering is considered good. However, there are still gaps “that we intend to fill by adapting to international standards on the matter”. Thanks to greater transparency, she added, prosecuting authorities will be able to identify faster and more effectively who is really behind a legal structure.
The register of directors and shareholders
The project envisages that the register, in which persons exercising the function of directors or shareholders in a fiduciary relationship will also have to register, is kept by the Ministry of Justice and Police. A supervisory authority linked to the Ministry of Finance (which, moreover, already deals with the commercial register) will be in charge of carrying out checks and sanctioning any violations. The registry will not be public. In addition to the competent authorities, financial intermediaries, consultants subject to the law on money laundering and lawyers who exercise an activity subject to due diligence obligations will have access to it.