Switzerland — Financial Center and Regulatory Framework

Switzerland is recognized as one of the world's premier financial centers, renowned for political stability, legal certainty, and the high quality of its financial services. The Swiss financial sector encompasses banking, insurance, asset management, and financial market infrastructures, all supervised by FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority).

• Banking secrecy: Historically defining feature, now substantially curtailed by international standards (AIA/CRS)
• Anti-money laundering: Strict rules under GwG and FATF membership
• Tax law: Administered by ESTV with international information exchange
• Financial market law: FIDLEG, FINIG, and FinfraG as a modern regulatory package
• AIA/CRS: Full implementation of automatic exchange of information

Switzerland developed into a major banking center in the 19th century. The founding of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in 1907 and early regulatory frameworks laid the groundwork for the modern financial center. The Banking Act (BankG) of 1934 first codified banking secrecy.

Throughout the 20th century, Switzerland grew into a global hub for private banking and asset management. International pressure from the 2000s onward, particularly following the 2008 financial crisis and the US tax dispute, led to a fundamental realignment: the abandonment of banking secrecy vis-à-vis foreigners, introduction of automatic exchange of information, and comprehensive modernization of financial market law via FIDLEG, FINIG, and FinfraG (2020).

The Swiss regulatory framework applies to all financial intermediaries domiciled or active in Switzerland, including:

• Banks and bank-like institutions
• Securities dealers and investment firms
• Insurance companies
• Collective investment schemes and their managers
• Financial market infrastructures (exchanges, central counterparties)
• Independent asset managers and trustees

• Licensing requirement for financial intermediaries with FINMA
• Compliance with anti-money laundering regulations (GwG)
• Affiliation with a self-regulatory organization (SRO) or direct FINMA supervision
• Implementation of automatic exchange of information (AIA/CRS)
• Compliance with FIDLEG when providing financial services
• Reporting obligations to MROS upon suspicion of money laundering

AIAG (Automatic Information Exchange Act) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy.

VSB (Agreement on Due Diligence) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy.

GwG (Anti-Money Laundering Act) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy.

FinfraG (Financial Market Infrastructure Act) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy.

FinIG (Financial Institutions Act) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy.

FIDLEG (Financial Services Act) was missing as child node of Switzerland hierarchy. All other countries have complete parent-child connections.

4 corrections:
- EBK restructuring in 1994 cannot be verified
- SNB founding date incorrect (1907-01-16)
- BankG date: enactment vs. entry into force confused
- First AIA data exchange was 2018, not 2017