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Swiss parliament approves due diligence for high-risk consultancy activities

Money laundering: "soft" law confirmed for National Councillors
Money laundering: "soft" law confirmed for National Councillors Keystone-SDA

Switzerland is adapting its Money Laundering Act to cover high-risk consultancy activities. On Thursday, the House of Representatives accepted the draft of the Senate, which was largely watered down compared to the government's original proposal.

Parliament has already approved the introduction of a federal register of beneficial owners to strengthen the fight against money laundering. It has decided to deal separately with the issue of legal advisers. This reform must meet the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

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The Senate largely modified the government’s draft. Only consultancy activities presenting a concrete risk of money laundering should be subject to the provisions of the Money Laundering Act. The political left, the Liberal Greens and Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter criticised the bill for being too weak.

In the vote on the bill as a whole, the House of Representatives adopted it by 116 votes to 75.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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