The other members of the ecosystem
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Around the banks, the asset managers and the family offices, the Geneva financial centre brings together many other actors whose cooperation gives the whole its value.
Lawyers are involved in the structuring of estates, succession law, tax law, company law, compliance, litigation and arbitration. Geneva has a large Bar, part of which specialises in international private clients and in banking and financial law.1 The revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act adopted in 2025 subjects them to new obligations for certain advisory activities.2
Notaries, whose involvement is required for many instruments — notarial wills, inheritance contracts, marriage contracts, corporate deeds, real-estate transactions — contribute to the legal certainty of wealth-related transactions.
Fiduciaries and chartered accountants keep the books of companies and structures, prepare tax returns, administer companies and give tax advice. Many also act as financial intermediaries subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Trustees, who are now licensed by FINMA, administer the trusts set up for international families. Chapter IV described their new regime, and the transparency register imposes additional obligations on them from 1 October 2026.3
Insurance brokers and insurers offer life-insurance and pension solutions, which can be integrated into wealth planning. Advisers in investment, art, real estate and philanthropy complete the offering. Technology providers supply asset managers and family offices with the consolidation, reporting and compliance tools they need.
The supervisory and self-regulatory organisations, the ombudsman bodies, the audit firms and the professional associations form the institutional infrastructure of this ecosystem. The Fondation Genève Place Financière, created in 1991, provides its collective representation.4
| Actor | Contribution to the ecosystem |
|---|---|
| Banks | custody, execution, credit, management, services to intermediaries |
| Independent asset managers | personalised management and advice, independence |
| Family offices | coordination, family governance, wealth services |
| Lawyers and notaries | structuring, successions, taxation, legal certainty, litigation |
| Fiduciaries | accounting, company administration, taxation |
| Trustees | administration of trusts |
| Insurers and brokers | life insurance, pensions |
| Technology providers | consolidation, reporting, compliance |
| Supervisory bodies, ombudsmen, auditors, associations | institutional infrastructure |
Notes
- Ordre des avocats de Genève (Geneva Bar Association), “L’Ordre des avocats de Genève en bref” (December 2022, odage.ch): more than 2,000 members spread across more than 400 firms, 13 nationalities, 23 bars and 42 languages represented, the Ordre having represented the profession since 1895; Fédération suisse des avocats (Swiss Bar Association), fact sheet “L’Ordre des avocats de Genève” (sav-fsa.ch): 1,233 members in 2014, i.e. more than 60 per cent of the lawyers entered in the cantonal register, 414 firms with three lawyers on average; 65 members in 1895, 198 in 1950, more than 400 in 1980, more than 1,200 in 2010. ↩
- “Blanchiment d’argent en Suisse : nouvelles obligations du conseiller” (Money laundering in Switzerland: new obligations of the adviser), Croce & Associés, 20 October 2025. ↩
- “Newsletter juin 2026 – Transparence des personnes morales : rappel et tour d’horizon” (Transparency of legal entities: reminder and overview), Bonnard Lawson, 26 June 2026. ↩
- Fondation Genève Place Financière, presentation, geneve-finance.ch (accessed September 2026). ↩
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.