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Supervisory system
The Supervisory System
The legal basis of the supervisory system in Switzerland directed towards preventing and combating money laundering is set out in the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 1997. It therewith created uniform due diligence and other obligations to be respected by the entire financial sector for combating money laundering in the sense of Art. 305bis of the SCC (English translation). Similar provisions based on civil law had already been in existence for the banking sector since the seventies.
The AMLA lays down the personal scope of its application, defines the main features of due diligence obligations to be respected by all financial intermediaries and mandates the supervisory authorities to issue implementing regulations with respect to these obligations. Furthermore, it lays down the obligations of financial intermediaries with regard to suspicions of money laundering and sets out rules governing supervision on fulfilling statutory obligations required by the Act. The AMLA also provided the basis for the creation of a central authority in Switzerland for reporting suspicions regarding money laundering - the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Last update: 07.09.2007