Law, Courts, Enforcement and Compliance — a part of the book Zurich as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos.
Part I turns to the institutions that give the financial centre legal certainty and to the enforcement risks that accompany it. The trust an international client places in Zurich rests on courts that decide commercial disputes competently and quickly, on arbitration that is recognised worldwide and on prosecutors who pursue economic crime. The same client also meets anti-money-laundering duties, sanctions and requests for international assistance that can reach far into a banking relationship or a family structure.
Chapter I presents the Zurich Commercial Court, the reformed Civil Procedure Code, arbitration seated in Zurich and the enforcement of judgments and awards. Chapter II describes the prosecution of economic crime by the Zurich and federal authorities, corporate criminal liability and the rights of the defence. Chapter III sets out the anti-money-laundering regime as it stands after the transparency reform that enters into force on 1 October 2026. Chapter IV examines Swiss sanctions practice since 2022 and the law of export control. Chapter V deals with mutual legal assistance, administrative assistance in tax matters and the recovery of assets across borders.
Together these chapters describe the legal environment in which every client relationship in Zurich now operates. Part J turns to the technologies that are changing that environment: crypto-assets and Digital Assets, fintech and artificial intelligence.
This part belongs to Zurich as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos, published here in full, section by section.
The Zurich Commercial Court and international dispute resolution — overview and summary
A financial centre is judged by the quality of the institutions that decide its disputes as much as by the size of its banks. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceA court made for merchants: the origins of the Zurich Handelsgericht
The Zurich Commercial Court was established in 1866. Its hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary in 2016 was marked by a Festschrift edited by Alexander Brunner and Peter Nobel under the title… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceComposition and working method: professional and commercial judges
The Commercial Court today consists of eight professional judges, members of the Obergericht, and seventy commercial judges who serve part-time alongside their principal occupation. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceJurisdiction: Article 6 CPC, the Zurich GOG and a single cantonal instance
Since 1 January 2011 civil procedure in Switzerland has been governed by the federal Civil Procedure Code (CPC, in German Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO), which replaced the twenty-six cantonal codes. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe Civil Procedure Code of 2011 and its revision of 2025
Before 2011 a foreign party litigating in Switzerland had to master the procedural law of the canton concerned. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceEnglish in the courtroom: the Zurich International Commercial Court
The idea of an international commercial chamber in Zurich did not originate with the federal revision. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe wider court landscape of Zurich
The Obergericht of the Canton of Zurich is the canton’s highest court in civil and criminal matters. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceZurich as a seat of international arbitration
International arbitration in Switzerland is governed by Chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA), which entered into force together with the rest of the Act on 1 January… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceMediation and ombudsman schemes
Mediation has a secure but modest place in Swiss dispute resolution. The CPC allows the parties to replace conciliation by mediation and permits the court to recommend mediation at any stage of the… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceRecognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and awards
A judgment obtained abroad is of little value to a creditor unless it can be enforced where the debtor’s assets are. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceDebt enforcement and attachment: the SchKG as an instrument of recovery
The Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (Bundesgesetz über Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs, SchKG, in English DEBA) of 1889 is one of the oldest federal codifications still in force and one… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceComparisons: London, Singapore, Frankfurt and Hamburg, Geneva
The Commercial Court of England and Wales is the model against which every international commercial court measures itself. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceLegacy and outlook
The history of commercial adjudication in Zurich shows a remarkable continuity. The court created in 1866 for the merchants of the canton has survived the unification of substantive law in 1883, the… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceProsecution of economic crime in Zurich — overview and summary
On the Güterstrasse, a few minutes on foot from the tracks of Zurich main station, stands the building that houses the Oberstaatsanwaltschaft of the Canton of Zurich together with three specialised… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe Swiss Criminal Procedure Code and the prosecution model
Until the end of 2010, criminal procedure in Switzerland was a cantonal matter. Each of the twenty-six cantons had its own code of criminal procedure, while a federal statute governed the proceedings… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe prosecution authorities of the Canton of Zurich
The Zurich public prosecution service is part of the cantonal administration and falls under the Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceFederal jurisdiction
The prosecution of crime in Switzerland is in principle a cantonal task. The Confederation prosecutes only offences that the law expressly assigns to it, such as offences against the state,… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe principal offences
Swiss economic criminal law has no single offence of “economic crime”. It relies on the general property offences of the Criminal Code, supplemented by special provisions in financial market… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceCorporate criminal liability
For most of the twentieth century, Swiss criminal law followed the maxim societas delinquere non potest: only natural persons could commit crimes. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceEnding proceedings without a full trial
The great majority of criminal cases in Switzerland end with a summary penalty order (Strafbefehl), a written conviction issued by the prosecutor without a trial. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceSeizure, confiscation and compensatory claims
For the victims of economic crime, the question whether assets can be secured is often more important than the question whether the offender will be convicted. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe rights of the defence
Every person accused of an economic offence in Zurich has the right to remain silent, the right to counsel from the first police interview and the right to participate in the taking of evidence. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe cross-border dimension
Almost every significant economic crime case in Zurich has a foreign element. The predicate offence may have been committed abroad, the victims may live in another country, the offender may have left… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceLegacy and outlook
The prosecution of economic crime in Zurich today rests on several layers that were deposited at different times. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceAnti-money-laundering compliance — overview and summary
Anti-money-laundering law is the part of Swiss financial regulation that touches almost every client relationship in Zurich. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe architecture of the Swiss regime
The central statute is the Federal Act of 10 October 1997 on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, known in German as the Geldwäschereigesetz (GwG) and in English as the Anti-Money… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe persons subject to the Act
Article 2 AMLA distinguishes two groups of financial intermediaries. The first group, listed in paragraph 2, consists of institutions that are financial intermediaries by virtue of their licence:… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe due diligence duties
The first duty of every financial intermediary is to verify the identity of the contracting party on the basis of a document with evidential value when establishing a business relationship (Article 3… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceReporting suspicions
The reporting duty is the point at which private compliance becomes part of criminal prosecution. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceTax offences as predicate offences
For most of its history Swiss money-laundering law drew a sharp distinction between the proceeds of crime and undeclared money. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe reform of 2025 and 2026: transparency and advisers
The reform that enters into force on 1 October 2026 answers two weaknesses that the FATF and other observers had identified for years. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceSwitzerland and the FATF
Switzerland has been a member of the FATF since its foundation in 1989 and has adapted its legislation to the cycles of FATF evaluation ever since. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceSupervisory practice and enforcement
FINMA supervises the anti-money-laundering compliance of the institutions under its direct supervision through audits, on-site reviews, supervisory reviews and, where it finds serious breaches,… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceMoney-laundering typologies in Zurich
The typologies that occupy compliance departments in Zurich follow from the structure of the financial centre. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe practitioner’s perspective
In a Zurich bank or asset manager, anti-money-laundering compliance is organised according to the model of the three lines of defence. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceLegacy and outlook
The Swiss anti-money-laundering regime of 2026 bears the marks of its history. The due diligence agreement of the banks, born after Chiasso in 1977, survives as the CDB 20. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceSanctions and export control — overview and summary
Sanctions law has become one of the busiest fields of practice in the Zurich financial centre within a few years. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceFrom neutrality to sanctions practice
Swiss neutrality and economic sanctions were long regarded as incompatible. The classical doctrine held that a permanently neutral state should abstain from economic measures directed against one… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe Embargo Act and its ordinances
The Federal Act of 22 March 2002 on the Implementation of International Sanctions, known as the Embargo Act (Embargogesetz, EmbG, SR 946.231), is a short statute of eighteen articles. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceSECO and the institutional architecture
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, part of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, administers the sanctions ordinances. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceNeutrality and the adoption of EU sanctions
Since the Federal Council is not obliged to follow the European Union, every EU package raises the question whether Switzerland should adopt it, adopt it in part or stay away. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe Russia ordinance of 4 March 2022
The measures adopted on 28 February 2022 were first inserted into the old circumvention ordinance of 2014. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceOwnership, control and the reach of the freeze
The freeze in Article 15 extends to entities owned or controlled by listed persons, although the ordinance does not define ownership or control. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceFrozen assets and the confiscation debate
The amount of frozen Russian assets has become the most visible measure of Swiss sanctions policy, although it is an imperfect one. SECO publishes the figure at irregular intervals. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceEnforcement
Enforcement of the Embargo Act lies with SECO under the procedure of the Administrative Criminal Law Act. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceExtraterritorial sanctions: the United States and the European Union
Swiss law recognises only Swiss sanctions. SECO states that third-country sanctions have in principle no direct effect in Switzerland and that Swiss law offers no protection against them. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceExport control: the Goods Control Act and dual-use goods
Export control is the older sibling of sanctions law. While sanctions target countries, persons and sectors for political reasons, export control restricts the transfer of goods and technology that… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceWar material: re-export, financing and neutrality
War material in the narrow sense is governed by the Federal Act of 13 December 1996 on War Material (War Material Act, KMG, SR 514.51). Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceFinancial services, payment screening and trade finance
For banks and payment service providers, sanctions compliance is above all a data problem. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe practitioner’s perspective
Sanctions work in Zurich falls into four broad areas: compliance programmes, licensing and interpretation requests to SECO, criminal and administrative defence, and the tracing and management of… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceMutual legal assistance, asset recovery and tax information exchange — overview and summary
A financial centre that holds a large share of the world’s cross-border private wealth will sooner or later be asked where a particular part of that wealth came from. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe Mutual Assistance Act and its treaty framework
The Federal Act of 20 March 1981 on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, cited in German as IRSG, in French as EIMP and in English as IMAC, is the general statute for every form of… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceProcedure: from Bern to the Zurich prosecutor and back
Requests that do not travel directly between prosecutors reach the Federal Office of Justice, which acts as the central authority. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceAdministrative assistance in tax matters
Until 2009 Switzerland granted administrative assistance in tax matters only to a small number of treaty partners and, in most cases, only in cases of tax fraud. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe automatic exchange of financial account information
The automatic exchange of information is described in detail in Part G, which traces its origins in FATCA and in the Common Reporting Standard of the OECD. A brief account suffices here. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceAsset recovery: the assets of foreign politically exposed persons
Switzerland’s policy on the assets of fallen rulers is described historically in Part F, from the freezing of the Marcos accounts in 1986 to the return of the Abacha funds. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and CompliancePrivate asset recovery from Zurich
Victims of fraud, liquidators and judgment creditors who suspect assets in Zurich face a legal system that has no equivalent of the English Norwich Pharmacal order, the Bankers Trust order or… Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceBlocking statutes and direct cooperation with foreign authorities
The formal channels described so far exist because Swiss law forbids the informal ones. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceThe practitioner’s perspective
For persons whose accounts in Zurich are the subject of a foreign request, the first step is to understand which channel is being used. Read more Zurich · Law, Courts, Enforcement and ComplianceLegacy and outlook
The history of cross-border cooperation from Zurich is one of gradual opening under external pressure. Read more