# AMLR Art. 22 — ID / verify customer + BO > AMLR Art. 22 applies from 10 July 2027. See [[Effective-dates timeline]]. - **Part of:** [[AMLR]] - **FATF keying:** [[FATF R.10 - Customer due diligence|FATF R.10]], [[FATF R.24 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons|FATF R.24]], [[FATF R.25 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements|FATF R.25]] - **Swiss provisions:** [[GwG Art. 3 - Verification of the identity of|GwG Art. 3]], [[GwG Art. 4 - Establishing the beneficial owner|GwG Art. 4]], [[GwV-FINMA Art. 35 - Identification, controlling person and beneficial|GwV-FINMA Art. 35]], [[GwV-FINMA Art. 44 - Required information|GwV-FINMA Art. 44]], [[GwV-FINMA Art. 47 - Legal entities, partnerships and authorities|GwV-FINMA Art. 47]], [[GwV-FINMA Art. 56 - Controlling person – principle|GwV-FINMA Art. 56]], [[GwV-FINMA Art. 64 - Groupings of persons, trusts, asset|GwV-FINMA Art. 64]], [[VSB 20]] - **Detailed citation:** GwG Art. 3, 4; GwV-FINMA Art. 35, 44-47, 56-64 > [!tip] In practice > - Swiss identification runs through GwG Art. 3 and 4. The detail is in GwV-FINMA Title 5 or, for banks and securities firms, in VSB 20. > - Swiss law splits the AMLR's single beneficial owner into the controlling person and the beneficial owner of the assets. Both limbs are needed. > - The AMLR's tip-off safeguard for the senior-managing-official fallback has no Swiss counterpart. > - The AMLR requires a check of the central register when verifying beneficial owners. TJPG Art. 27 gives a right of access, not a duty. ## What it requires AMLR Art. 22 sets minimum identification particulars for natural persons, legal entities, trustees and other organisations (Art. 22(1)), and requires collecting the beneficial owner's particulars listed in Art. 62(1)(a); where none can be found, the senior managing officials are identified and verified, unless verification would tip off the customer (Art. 22(2)). Further paragraphs cover virtual IBAN issuers and trust beneficiaries designated by class (Art. 22(3)-(5)). Verification runs via an identity document or electronic identification at assurance level 'substantial' or 'high' (Art. 22(6)); beneficial-owner verification must also consult the central registers (Art. 22(7)). ## Swiss position GwG Art. 3 requires identification of the contracting party from a probative document, including, for a legal entity, taking note of its signing rules and verifying the identity of the persons who open the relationship for it; GwV-FINMA Art. 44 sets the particulars this identification must record for the institutions Title 5 covers. GwG Art. 4 requires a written declaration of the beneficial owner where the contracting party is not obviously that person, is a domiciliary or operating company, or makes a cash transaction of significant value (holders of collective accounts must supply a full list of beneficial owners), and (since 1.1.2023) requires verifying that person's identity too. Switzerland splits the AMLR's single beneficial-owner concept in two - see [[The Swiss beneficial-owner split]]: GwV-FINMA Art. 56 sets the controlling-person declaration at the 25% threshold, and GwV-FINMA Art. 64 requires a declaration on the founders, trustees, protectors and beneficiaries of a trust. GwV-FINMA Art. 47 sets the identification documents for registered entities. This row's mapping also pins GwV-FINMA Art. 35: for banks the package runs through VSB 20 instead. ## Key divergences The AMLR works with a single beneficial-owner concept; Swiss law splits it into the controlling person (GwV-FINMA Art. 56-58) and the person economically entitled to the assets (Art. 59-64). Applying the AMLR concept to the Swiss side therefore draws on both limbs, plus the register definition in TJPG Art. 4 outside this mapping. Swiss law has a similar fallback: where no controlling person can be established, the managing person (*geschäftsführende Person*) is recorded instead (GwV-FINMA Art. 56 Abs. 3; for banks VSB 20 Art. 20 Abs. 4). Neither provision contains the AMLR's tip-off safeguard for that situation (AMLR Art. 22(2), third subparagraph). [[Scope note — GwV-FINMA Title 5 vs VSB 20]] applies to Art. 44, 47, 56 and 64; GwV-FINMA Art. 35 refers banks to VSB 20. **Register consultation.** AMLR Art. 22(7), third subparagraph, requires obliged entities to verify beneficial-owner information also by consulting the central registers. TJPG Art. 27 gives financial intermediaries (GwG Art. 2 Abs. 2 and 3) and advisers (GwG Art. 2 Abs. 3bis and 3ter) a right of online access to the transparency register, to the extent needed for their GwG due diligence and for that purpose only. The Swiss texts reviewed set no duty to consult the register. **Virtual IBANs.** AMLR Art. 22(3) requires credit and financial institutions to identify and verify the persons using any virtual IBAN they issue, and the associated bank or payment account. No provision in the Swiss texts reviewed (GwG, GwV-FINMA, VSB 20) addresses virtual IBANs as such. ## Effective dates AMLR Art. 22 applies from 10 July 2027. See [[Effective-dates timeline]]. ## Further connections *These links come from an article-by-article comparison of the primary texts. They add to the provisions listed at the top of this note and make no equivalence claim.* - [[VSB 20 Art. 7 - Information to be documented|VSB 20 Art. 7]] — VSB Art. 7 lists the particulars to document for natural persons and legal entities, a shorter list than AMLR Art. 22(1) (no place of birth, legal form, registration number). *(direct)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 9 - Identification on face-to-face meeting|VSB 20 Art. 9]] — VSB Art. 9 Abs. 1 verifies by official photo ID and file copy, as in Art. 22(6)(a); Abs. 2 equates FINMA-compliant video identification, a different standard from Art. 22(6)(b) eID. *(direct)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 10 - Identification by correspondence|VSB 20 Art. 10]] — VSB Art. 10 sets remote identification by certified ID copy and address check, or FINMA-compliant online identification; AMLR Art. 22(6) does not distinguish remote from in-person verification. *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 12 - Identification of registered entities|VSB 20 Art. 12]] — VSB Art. 12 verifies a registered legal entity through a register extract or trusted database extract, a form of the reliable independent source referred to in AMLR Art. 22(6)(a). *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 15 - Verifying persons opening relationships|VSB 20 Art. 15]] — VSB Art. 15 requires verifying, by ID copy (or signature certification), the identity of the natural persons opening a legal entity's or partnership's relationship; AMLR Art. 22(1) and (6) cover any person purporting to act for the customer and prescribe the particulars to be collected. *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 16 - Simple partnerships and trustees|VSB 20 Art. 16]] — VSB Art. 16 Abs. 3 requires identifying the trustee and a written confirmation of authority; AMLR Art. 22(1)(c) additionally requires trustee residence, the arrangement's governing powers and basic information. *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 20 - Establishing the controlling persons|VSB 20 Art. 20]] — VSB Art. 20 Abs. 4 falls back to the managing person (geschäftsführende Person) where no controlling person exists, comparable to AMLR's senior-managing-officials fallback; AMLR additionally requires recording that no beneficial owner was identified and verifying the officials' identity. *(direct)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 21 - Information to be documented|VSB 20 Art. 21]] — VSB Art. 21 Abs. 1 requires a declaration of the controlling person's name and residence address; AMLR Art. 62(1)(a) particulars also include birth data, nationality and ID number. *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 28 - Information to be documented|VSB 20 Art. 28]] — VSB Art. 28 Abs. 1 requires documenting the name, birth date, nationality and residence of the beneficial owner of the assets via Form A; AMLR Art. 22(1)(a) for persons on whose behalf a transaction is conducted also requires place of birth and, where applicable, the national identification number. *(related)* - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 45 - Natural persons and sole proprietors|GwV-FINMA Art. 45]] — GwV-FINMA Art. 45 identifies a natural person by inspecting an authority-issued photo ID, comparable to AMLR Art. 22(6)(a). Title 5 entities only; banks use VSB Art. 9. *(direct)* - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 57 - Controlling person – required information|GwV-FINMA Art. 57]] — GwV-FINMA Art. 57 requires name, first name and residence address of the controlling person; AMLR Art. 62(1)(a) particulars are wider. Title 5 entities only. *(related)* - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 60 - Beneficial owner – required information|GwV-FINMA Art. 60]] — GwV-FINMA Art. 60 lists the name, birth date, residence and nationality of the beneficial owner of the assets; AMLR Art. 22(1)(a) for persons on whose behalf a transaction is conducted also requires place of birth and, where applicable, the national identification number. Title 5 entities only. *(related)* ## Authoritative text > [!quote]- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Article 22 — English text (EUR-Lex, CELEX 32024R1624) > **Article 22** > *Identification and verification of the identity of customers and beneficial owners* > 1. With the exception of cases of lower risk to which measures under Section 3 apply and irrespective of the application of additional measures in cases of higher risk under Section 4 obliged entities shall obtain at least the following information in order to identify the customer, any person purporting to act on behalf of the customer, and the natural persons on whose behalf or for the benefit of whom a transaction or activity is being conducted: > (a) for a natural person: > (i) all names and surnames; > (ii) place and full date of birth; > (iii) nationalities, or statelessness and refugee or subsidiary protection status where applicable, and the national identification number, where applicable; > (iv) the usual place of residence or, if there is no fixed residential address with legitimate residence in the Union, the postal address at which the natural person can be reached and, where available the tax identification number; > (b) for a legal entity: > (i) legal form and name of the legal entity; > (ii) address of the registered or official office and, if different, the principal place of business, and the country of creation; > (iii) the names of the legal representatives of the legal entity as well as, where available, the registration number, the tax identification number and the Legal Entity Identifier; > (iv) the names of persons holding shares or a directorship position in nominee form, including reference to their status as nominee shareholders or directors. > (c) for a trustee of an express trust or a person holding an equivalent position in a similar legal arrangement: > (i) basic information on the legal arrangement; however, with regard to the assets held in the legal arrangement or managed through it, only the assets that are to be managed in the context of the business relationship or occasional transaction shall be identified; > (ii) the address of residence of the trustees or persons holding an equivalent position in a similar legal arrangement and, if different, the place from where the express trust or similar legal arrangement is administered, the powers that regulate and bind the legal arrangement, as well as, where available, the tax identification number and the Legal Entity Identifier; > (d) for other organisations that have legal capacity under national law: > (i) name, address of the registered office or equivalent; > (ii) names of the persons empowered to represent the organisation as well as, where applicable, legal form, tax identification number, registration number, Legal Entity Identifier and deeds of association or equivalent. > 2. For the purposes of identifying the beneficial owner of a legal entity or of a legal arrangement, obliged entities shall collect the information referred to in Article 62(1), second subparagraph, point (a). > Where, after having exhausted all possible means of identification, no natural persons are identified as beneficial owners, or where there are doubts that the persons identified are the beneficial owners, obliged entities shall record that no beneficial owner was identified and identify all the natural persons holding the positions of senior managing officials in the legal entity and shall verify their identity. > Where the performance of identity verification referred to in the second subparagraph may tip off the customer that the obliged entity has doubts regarding the beneficial ownership of the legal entity, the obliged entity shall abstain from verifying the senior managing officials’ identity, and shall instead record the steps taken to ascertain the identity of the beneficial owners and senior managing officials. Obliged entities shall keep records of the actions taken as well as of the difficulties encountered during the identification process, which led to resorting to the identification of a senior managing official. > 3. Credit institutions and financial institutions shall obtain information to identify and verify the identity of the natural or legal persons using any virtual IBAN they issue, and the associated bank or payment account. > The credit institution or financial institution servicing the bank or payment account to which a virtual IBAN issued by another credit institution or financial institution redirects payments, shall ensure that it can obtain from the institution issuing the virtual IBAN the information identifying and verifying the identity of the natural person using that virtual IBAN without delay and in any case within 5 working days of it requesting that information. > 4. In the case of beneficiaries of trusts or similar legal entities or arrangements that are designated by particular characteristics or class, an obliged entity shall obtain sufficient information concerning the beneficiary so that it will be able to establish the identity of the beneficiary at the time of the payout or at the time of the exercise by the beneficiary of its vested rights. > 5. In the case of discretionary trusts, an obliged entity shall obtain sufficient information concerning the objects of a power and default takers to enable it to establish the identity of the beneficiary at the time of the exercise by the trustees of their power of discretion, or at the time that the default takers become the beneficiaries due to the trustees’ failure to exercise their power of discretion. > 6. Obliged entities shall obtain the information, documents and data necessary for the verification of the identity of the customer and of any person purporting to act on their behalf through either of the following means: > (a) the submission of an identity document, passport or equivalent and, where relevant, the acquisition of information from reliable and independent sources, whether accessed directly or provided by the customer; > (b) the use of electronic identification means which meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 with regard to the assurance levels ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ and relevant qualified trust services as set out in that Regulation. > 7. Obliged entities shall verify the identity of the beneficial owner and, where relevant, the persons on whose behalf or for the benefit of whom a transaction or activity is being carried out in either of the following ways: > (a) in accordance with paragraph 6; > (b) by taking reasonable measures to obtain the necessary information, documents and data from the customer or other reliable sources, including public registers other than the central registers. > Obliged entities shall determine the extent of the information to be consulted, having regard to the risks posed by the occasional transaction or the business relationship and the beneficial owner, including risks relating to the ownership structure. > In addition to the means of verification set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, obliged entities shall verify the information on the beneficial owners by consulting the central registers. ## Sources - AMLR Art. 22 - CELEX 32024R1624 - GwG SR 955.0, Art. 3, 4 - GwV-FINMA SR 955.033.0, Art. 35, 44, 47, 56, 64