AML stands for anti-money laundering. The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) aims to avoid and prevent money laundering and other similar activities, such as terrorism financing. The AMLA's applicability is rather broad and is therefore highly relevant for many companies.

The Swiss AML regulation is made up of three core principles:

The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) applies to all financial intermediaries. It notably comes into consideration for a company involved in money exchanges (e.g., from CHF to USD) or money flows (e.g., payment provider services).

This is for example, already the case when a phone operator offers their clients to buy public transport tickets via SMS. In this case, the phone operator acts as a payment provider and must comply with AML requirements.

Generally, if money is moved in one way or another, you should consider whether AML requirements apply to your services.

There are exceptions, notably when the activity is not pursued professionally, but it is important to assess the scope of application of the law.

The first step is to define whether your activity is subject to the regulation. Once this is established, you can either decide to (i) re-structure your activity to avoid the application of the regulation, (ii) partner with a regulated company, or (iii) achieve compliance yourself.

Generally, the approach taken by regulatory authorities to prevent AML-related risks is to impose "police obligations" on the regulated companies. The companies must notably:

In practice, determining when the AMLA applies, which measures must be taken, and how to join an SRO is rather complicated and requires expert advice. As compliance is key to the survival of the company and its success, it's paramount to seek expert support as early as possible.

Book a free call to discuss how we can best support you.