Skip to main content

​
Overview

​
Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Switzerland and submit them as strings on the application body. Tax ID: UID + language-specific suffix (MWST / TVA / IVA). Only VAT-registered entities receive this. Non-VAT entities use UID alone. Registration number: Format: CHE-NNN.NNN.NNN (12 chars; last digit checksum). Assigned at Handelsregister entry. Primary cross-government identifier.

​
Sector regulators

FINMA · SNB · MROS · ESTV

​
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.

​
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. Not applicable in Switzerland: Operating Permit, Governance Records. Skip these areas — no local artifact exists.

​
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.
  • Good Standing: Switzerland does not issue a separate certificate of good standing; a current-dated Handelsregisterauszug from ZEFIX or the cantonal Handelsregisteramt serves as proof of active and compliant status — see business_registration slot.

​
Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

​
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.