# AMLR Art. 39 — Shell-institution prohibition > The AMLR applies from 10 July 2027. See [[Effective-dates timeline]]. - **Part of:** [[AMLR]] - **FATF keying:** [[FATF R.13 - Correspondent banking|FATF R.13]] - **Swiss provisions:** [[GwV-FINMA Art. 8 - Prohibited business relationships|GwV-FINMA Art. 8]] - **Detailed citation:** GwV-FINMA Art. 8 ## What it requires Credit and financial institutions must not enter into or continue a correspondent relationship with a shell institution, and must take appropriate measures to avoid correspondent relationships with an institution known to allow its accounts to be used by one. Crypto-asset service providers must additionally ensure their accounts are not used by shell institutions to provide crypto-asset services, maintaining internal policies, procedures and controls to detect attempts to use accounts for unregulated crypto-asset services (Art. 39(1)-(2)). ## Swiss position GwV-FINMA Art. 8 (Title 1, general provisions, applying across supervised categories) prohibits business relationships with undertakings or persons known or assumed to finance terrorism or to form, belong to or support a criminal organisation (Bst. a), and with banks that maintain no physical presence at their place of incorporation ('fictitious banks'), unless part of a duly consolidated supervised financial group (Bst. b). Separately, GwV-FINMA Art. 37 Abs. 2 requires an intermediary conducting correspondent banking for a foreign bank to satisfy itself the foreign bank may not itself deal with fictitious banks. ## Key divergences The Swiss prohibition (Art. 8 Bst. b) is defined by banking status and physical presence, with a carve-out for banks in a duly consolidated supervised financial group. AMLR Art. 2(23)(a) uses a comparable physical-presence test but adds that the presence must involve meaningful mind and management, and extends beyond banks to financial institutions and institutions carrying out activities comparable to theirs. AMLR Art. 2(23)(b) adds a crypto limb absent from Art. 8: for crypto-asset service providers, a shell institution includes entities named in ESMA's register under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 Art. 110, or unlicensed/unsupervised third-country entities providing crypto-asset services. The internal-controls duty in AMLR Art. 39(2) to detect attempts to use accounts for unregulated crypto-asset services has no Art. 8 counterpart. AMLR Art. 39(1)'s second sentence extends the prohibition to correspondent relationships with any institution known to allow shell-institution use of its accounts. The nearest Swiss rule, Art. 37 Abs. 2, is narrower: it applies only to correspondent banking for a foreign bank, and requires assurance rather than imposing a prohibition on the relationship itself. GwV-FINMA Art. 8 Bst. a additionally prohibits relationships with terrorist financiers and criminal organisations, a limb AMLR Art. 39 does not contain. ## Effective dates The AMLR 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.* - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 37 - Correspondent banking with foreign banks|GwV-FINMA Art. 37]] — Both address a foreign respondent's dealings with shell banks; GwV-FINMA Art. 37(2) requires assurance, AMLR Art. 39(1) prohibits the relationship and requires measures against known indirect use. *(direct)* ## Authoritative text > [!quote]- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Article 39 — English text (EUR-Lex, CELEX 32024R1624) > **Article 39** > *Prohibition of correspondent relationships with shell institutions* > 1. Credit institutions and financial institutions shall not enter into, or continue, a correspondent relationship with a shell institution. Credit institutions and financial institutions shall take appropriate measures to ensure that they do not engage in or continue correspondent relationships with a credit institution or financial institution that is known to allow its accounts to be used by a shell institution. > 2. In addition to the requirement laid down in paragraph 1, crypto-asset service providers shall ensure that their accounts are not used by shell institutions to provide crypto-asset services. To that end, crypto-asset service providers shall have in place internal policies, procedures and controls to detect any attempt to use their accounts for the provision of unregulated crypto-asset services. ## Sources - AMLR Art. 39 — CELEX 32024R1624 - AMLR Art. 2(23) — CELEX 32024R1624 - GwV-FINMA SR 955.033.0, Art. 8 - GwV-FINMA SR 955.033.0, Art. 37