# AMLR Art. 58 — Identification of beneficial owners for express trusts and similar legal arrangements > TJPG Art. 15 and 16 (BBl 2025 2900) have been in force since 1 October 2026. See [[Effective-dates timeline]]. - **Part of:** [[AMLR]] - **FATF keying:** [[FATF R.25 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements|FATF R.25]] - **Swiss provisions:** [[TJPG Art. 15 - Trust BOs- settlor, trustee, protector|TJPG Art. 15]], [[TJPG Art. 16 - Trustee duties incl. class-of-beneficiary criteria|TJPG Art. 16]] - **Detailed citation:** TJPG Art. 15, 16 ## What it requires The beneficial owners of an express trust are the settlors, the trustees, the protectors if any, the beneficiaries (unless Art. 59 or Art. 60 applies), and any other natural person exercising ultimate control, directly or indirectly, by ownership or other means (Abs. 1 Bst. a-e). Other legal arrangements similar to express trusts follow the same list by equivalent position (Abs. 2). Where a listed position is held by a legal entity, that entity's own beneficial owners are added (Abs. 3). ## Swiss position TJPG Art. 15 Abs. 1 lists the same five categories: founder (Bst. a), trustee (b), protector (c), beneficiary (d), and any other natural person controlling the trust directly, indirectly or otherwise, including the beneficial owners of a legal entity occupying positions (a)-(d) (Bst. e). TJPG Art. 16 places the operative duty on the trustee: identify the beneficial owners and verify their identity and status with due care (Abs. 1); obtain name, date of birth, nationality, address and state of residence, and the nature and extent of control (Abs. 2); where a legal entity, partnership or trust occupies one of positions (a)-(d), also obtain its name and seat (Abs. 3); document, periodically update, and retain the information for five years after the trustee's function ends, accessible in Switzerland (Abs. 6-7). ## Key divergences AMLR Art. 58 is a single provision defining beneficial owners for express trusts (Abs. 1) and, by cross-reference to equivalent positions, for similar legal arrangements generally (Abs. 2), plus a multi-layered-structure rule (Abs. 3) and an EU notification duty (Abs. 4-5). TJPG Art. 15 defines beneficial owners for 'trusts' as such; which trustees are covered is set by TJPG Art. 2 Abs. 2, turning on the trustee's Swiss residence, seat or administration of the trust, not on a general similar-arrangement test. Switzerland has no domestic trust law: trusts are recognised through the Hague Trust Convention, so the duty attaches to the trustee's Swiss nexus rather than to the trust as a legal person. Art. 16 additionally requires the trustee to record information on financial intermediaries and other financial or advisory service providers connected to the trust and to retain all of the information for five years after the trustee's function ends - obligations with no counterpart in AMLR Art. 58 itself. See [[The Swiss beneficial-owner split]]. **Trustees subject to the GwG.** TJPG Art. 2 Abs. 2 excludes from Art. 15 and 16 the trustees who are subject to the GwG, for example trustees licensed under FINIG, which are financial intermediaries under GwG Art. 2 Abs. 2 Bst. abis. For these trustees the GwG due-diligence track applies instead: GwG Art. 3 and 4 and GwV-FINMA Title 5 (Art. 43a), including [[GwV-FINMA Art. 64 - Groupings of persons, trusts, asset|GwV-FINMA Art. 64]] on trusts. ## Effective dates TJPG Art. 15 and 16 (BBl 2025 2900) have been in force since 1 October 2026. 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. 64 - Groupings of persons, trusts, asset|GwV-FINMA Art. 64]] — Declaration on founder, trustees, protectors, named beneficiaries and instructing persons, plus revocation holders for revocable structures (Bst. g). Abs. 3 adds trustee status disclosure. *(direct)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 41 - Trusts|VSB 20 Art. 41]] — Bank rule for trusts: trust details declared in writing or on Formular T. The article sets no content itself; the form covers settlor, beneficiaries or beneficiary group, protectors, revocation holders and persons entitled to appoint the trustee, with the trustee as declarant rather than a listed item. *(direct)* ## Authoritative text > [!quote]- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Article 58 — English text (EUR-Lex, CELEX 32024R1624) > **Article 58** > *Identification of beneficial owners for express trusts and similar legal arrangements* > 1. The beneficial owners of express trusts shall be all the following natural persons: > (a) the settlors; > (b) the trustees; > (c) the protectors, if any; > (d) the beneficiaries, unless Article 59 or 60 applies; > (e) any other natural persons exercising ultimate control over the express trust by means of direct or indirect ownership or by other means, including through a chain of control or ownership. > 2. The beneficial owners of other legal arrangements similar to express trusts shall be the natural persons holding equivalent or similar positions to those referred to in paragraph 1. > 3. Where legal arrangements belong to multi-layered control structures and where any of the positions listed in paragraph 1 is held by a legal entity, the beneficial owners of the legal arrangement shall be: > (a) the natural persons listed in paragraph 1; and > (b) the beneficial owners of the legal entities that occupy any of the positions listed in paragraph 1. > 4. Member States shall notify to the Commission by 10 October 2027 a list of types of legal arrangements similar to express trusts which are governed under their law. > The notification shall be accompanied by a description of: > (a) the form and basic features of those legal arrangements; > (b) the process through which those legal arrangements can be set up; > (c) the process for accessing basic information and beneficial ownership information on those legal arrangements; > (d) the websites at which the central registers containing information on beneficial owners of those legal arrangements can be consulted and the contact details of the entities in charge of those registers. > The notification shall also be accompanied by a justification detailing the reasons why the Member State considers the notified legal arrangements to be similar to express trusts and why it concluded that other legal arrangements governed under its law are not similar to express trusts. > 5. The Commission may adopt, by means of an implementing act, a list of types of legal arrangements governed under the law of Member States which should be subject to the same beneficial ownership transparency requirements as express trusts, accompanied by the information referred to in paragraph 4, second subparagraph of this Article. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 86(2). ## Sources - AMLR Art. 58 — CELEX 32024R1624 - TJPG BBl 2025 2900, Art. 15 - TJPG BBl 2025 2900, Art. 16 - TJPG BBl 2025 2900, Art. 2