Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| ISO 3166-1 | CH / CHE |
| Registry | Handelsregisteramt (cantonal commercial registry) / ZEFIX |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Switzerland and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | MWST-Nr / TVA / IVA | ESTV |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer) | BFS (Federal Statistical Office) |
Sector regulators
FINMA · SNB · MROS · ESTV
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aktiengesellschaft | AG | Share-capital corporation; CHF 100k min capital (CHF 50k paid-in); board of directors (Verwaltungsrat) required; shares freely transferable. Most common form for larger and international companies. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung | GmbH | Quota-based limited-liability company; CHF 20k min capital (fully paid-in); managed by Geschäftsführer; quota interests registered in Handelsregister. The default SME vehicle. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Kollektivgesellschaft | — | General partnership of two or more persons; all partners jointly and severally liable; no separate legal personality. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Kommanditgesellschaft | — | Limited partnership; at least one general partner with unlimited liability and one limited partner whose liability is capped at their contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Einzelunternehmen | — | Sole proprietorship; single natural person trading under their own name; owner personally liable; registration in the Handelsregister mandatory when annual revenue reaches CHF 100k. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Genossenschaft | — | Cooperative society; variable membership and capital; governed by its members for their collective benefit; must register in the Handelsregister. Widely used in Swiss banking (Raiffeisen), retail (Migros, Coop), and housing. Equivalent to a US Cooperative. |
| Stiftung | — | Foundation; assets dedicated by a founder to a specified purpose; must register in the Handelsregister to gain legal personality (mandatory since 2016); min CHF 50k founding capital. Equivalent to a US Nonprofit Corporation (501(c)(3)). |
| Verein | — | Non-profit association of persons united by a common purpose; governed by its members; Handelsregister entry required when conducting a commercial enterprise with annual turnover ≥ CHF 100k. Equivalent to a US Nonprofit Corporation. |
| Zweigniederlassung | — | Branch office of a foreign company; no separate legal personality — the foreign parent remains liable; must register in the cantonal Handelsregister and appoint a Switzerland-domiciled authorised signatory. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Handelsregisterauszug |
| Constitutive Documents | Statuten |
| Tax Registration | All required: UID-Bescheinigung + MWST-Bescheinigung |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Aktienbuch · Anteilbuch |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Verwaltungsratsbeschluss · Vollmacht |
| Address | Any one of: Mietvertrag · Versorgungsrechnung · Kontoauszug |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Handelsregisterauszug (ZEFIX / cantonal HR) | Legal Registration |
| Statuten | Constitutive Documents |
| UID-Bescheinigung (BFS) | Tax Registration |
| MWST-Bescheinigung (ESTV) | Tax Registration |
| Aktienbuch (AG — share register) | Ownership Records |
| Anteilbuch (GmbH — quota register) | Ownership Records |
| Verwaltungsratsbeschluss | Signing Authority |
| Notarielle Vollmacht (notarised power of attorney) | Signing Authority |
| Mietvertrag | Address |
| Versorgungsrechnung (≤90 Tage) | Address |
| Kontoauszug (≤90 Tage) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | FINMA-Bewilligung (financial sector) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Certified extract (beglaubigte Kopie) preferred; uncertified PDF available via zefix.admin.ch.
- Constitutive Documents: Notarised public deed for AG; notarisation also required for GmbH formation. Filed with cantonal HR.
- Tax Registration: Non-VAT entities: UID-Bescheinigung alone. VAT-registered: MWST-Bescheinigung confirms CHE-NNN.NNN.NNN MWST.
- Sector-Specific License: FINMA for banks, securities dealers, insurers, fund managers. Other regulators per sector.
- Ownership Records: Company-held internal share register. For AG: Aktienbuch (registered shares). For GmbH: Anteilbuch (quota register).
- Signing Authority: Board resolution for routine authority; notarised Vollmacht (POA) for specific external acts. Signature type (Einzelunterschrift / Kollektivunterschrift) is recorded in HR.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Verwaltungsrat (VR-Mitglied) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Member of AG board of directors (Verwaltungsrat); governance, not operations. |
| VR-Präsident | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Chair of the Verwaltungsrat; governance role. |
| Geschäftsführer (GmbH) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Managing director of GmbH; day-to-day executive authority. |
| Delegierter des Verwaltungsrats | CONTROLLING_PERSON | VR member delegated daily management in AG; executive authority. |
| Zeichnungsberechtigter (Einzelunterschrift) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Authorised signatory with sole signing power; recorded in HR; binds the company unilaterally. |
| Zeichnungsberechtigter (Kollektivunterschrift zu zweien) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Authorised signatory requiring joint signature of two; most common Swiss signing-authority form. |
| Prokurist | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of Prokura (statutory commercial power of attorney under OR Art. 458–460); broad authority, recorded in HR. |
Notes
- CO Art. 697(4) domicile rule: At least one person with signing authority (Einzelunterschrift or Kollektivunterschrift zu zweien) for the AG must be domiciled in Switzerland. The same requirement applies to the GmbH Geschäftsführer. This is a hard formation validity requirement — verify the HR extract confirms a Switzerland-domiciled signatory before onboarding.
- TJPG transition — dual regime in force today: The pre-TJPG BO framework (CO Art. 697j–697m; company-held internal register, threshold: reaches or exceeds 25%) remains the only operative law as of 2026-05-06. TJPG (BBl 2025 2900, adopted 2025-09-26) introduces a central federal Transparency Register (FOJ) but EIF has not been set by the Federal Council; expected ~mid-2026. Collect CO Art. 697j declarations now; plan for TJPG compliance once EIF is confirmed.
- Cantonal HR vs. ZEFIX: ZEFIX (zefix.admin.ch) is the federal index and is searchable, but the legally authoritative certified extract must be ordered from the relevant cantonal Handelsregisteramt. Uncertified ZEFIX PDFs are not authenticated documents for KYB purposes.