Take-Aways (AI)
  • A non-public regi­ster for the iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on of bene­fi­ci­al owners is intro­du­ced and made acce­s­si­ble to cer­tain authorities.
  • New obli­ga­ti­ons to update infor­ma­ti­on on a risk-based basis and streng­then the anti-money laun­de­ring mecha­nism are to be inclu­ded in the bill.

On Octo­ber 12, 2022, the Fede­ral Coun­cil ins­truc­ted the Fede­ral Depart­ment of Finan­ce (FDF) to draft a bill on “increa­sed trans­pa­ren­cy and faci­li­ta­ted iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on of bene­fi­ci­al owners of legal enti­ties” (Media release).

The tem­p­la­te should be available by the end of June 2023. In par­ti­cu­lar, a Regi­ster for the iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on of bene­fi­ci­al owners and new obli­ga­ti­ons to update infor­ma­ti­on on effec­ti­ve bene­fi­ci­a­ries on a risk-based basis would be intro­du­ced. The regi­stry would be acce­s­si­ble to cer­tain aut­ho­ri­ties but would not be public. In addi­ti­on, the FDF should

Include mea­su­res to streng­then the cur­rent anti-money laun­de­ring pro­vi­si­ons in the bill. In par­ti­cu­lar, it should be exami­ned, with the invol­vement of the stake­hol­ders con­cer­ned, whe­ther fur­ther adjust­ments should be made to the anti-money laun­de­ring pro­vi­si­ons, for exam­p­le in the area of legal professions.