Lawyers, fiduciaries and intermediaries during the golden age

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Geneva’s lawyers and fiduciaries played an important part in the wealth management of the golden age. They formed and administered companies, sat on their boards, opened accounts on behalf of their clients and advised on the structuring of estates. The Due Diligence Convention allowed lawyers and notaries to open accounts for clients they represented by attesting, on a special form, that they were acting in the course of their professional activity, without disclosing the identity of the beneficial owner to the bank.¹

This mechanism, which rested on the lawyer’s professional secrecy, was criticised because it could serve to conceal the identity of beneficiaries. Its abolition marked a step in the strengthening of transparency. The revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act adopted in 2025, which extends its obligations to certain advisory activities of lawyers and notaries, is its distant continuation, as Chapter IV explains.

From the golden age onwards, the Geneva financial centre thus developed an ecosystem of intermediaries that extends well beyond the banks. This ecosystem is a source of its strength, through the quality and diversity of the services on offer. It is also a point of vulnerability, whenever unscrupulous intermediaries lend their assistance to arrangements designed to conceal illicit assets.

Notes

Agreement on the Swiss banks’ code of conduct with regard to the exercise of due diligence (CDB 16), in force since 1 January 2016 (text on cdbf.ch), Art. 36: the bank waives identification of the beneficial owner where a lawyer or notary opens an account on behalf of clients, provided that he confirms in writing on Form R that he is not himself the beneficial owner, that he is acting in accordance with the applicable cantonal and federal law, that he is bound by the professional secrecy protected by Art. 321 of the Swiss Criminal Code and that the account serves exclusively his professional activity; the beneficial owner thus remains unknown to the bank. The CDB 20 retains this mechanism and lists Forms A, K, S, T, I and R (Swiss Bankers Association, text of the CDB 20, swissbanking.ch). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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Lawyers, fiduciaries and intermediaries during the golden age

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