# VSB 20 Art. 11 — Issuers of authenticity certifications - **Rubric (DE):** Aussteller von Echtheitsbestätigungen - **Rubric (EN):** Issuers of authenticity certifications - **Chapter:** 2. Kapitel — Identifizierung des Vertragspartners (2. Abschnitt: Natürliche Personen) - **Scope:** Banks & securities firms (incorporated via [[GwV-FINMA Art. 35 - Identification, controlling person and beneficial|GwV-FINMA Art. 35]]) - **Status:** In force (since 1 January 2020) ## Description Abs. 1: the authenticity of the copy of the identification document may be confirmed by (a) a branch, representative office or group company of the bank; (b) a correspondent bank, another financial intermediary or an attorney admitted in Switzerland, the list being followed by the relative clause "der von der eröffnenden Bank zu diesem Zweck anerkannt wird" (who is recognised for this purpose by the opening bank); or (c) a notary or another public body that customarily issues such authenticity confirmations. Abs. 2: also valid is an identification-document copy obtained from the database of a certification service provider recognised under the federal act on electronic signatures (ZertES), combined with electronic authentication of the customer. ## Context & interpretation The SBA commentary states that the form of the authenticity confirmation is not prescribed and that a signature suffices, without verification of the signature; the law, regulation or practice of the state concerned is decisive. Under lit. b it counts domestic financial intermediaries under Art. 2 Abs. 2 and 3 GwG and foreign ones subject to adequate supervision in the field of combating money laundering, and it is within the bank's discretion to reject confirmations. It states that foreign attorneys may qualify as public bodies under lit. c if foreign law recognises them to issue certifications. ## FATF - [[FATF R.10 - Customer due diligence|FATF R.10]] — identification and verification of the customer's identity; this article defines who may certify a copy of the identification document. ## Swiss counterparts - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 49 - Certification of authenticity|GwV-FINMA Art. 49]] — parallel list of certifiers: notary or public body (lit. a), Swiss financial intermediary (lit. b), attorney admitted in Switzerland (lit. c), and foreign financial intermediary under equivalent supervision and regulation (lit. d); there is no counterpart in that list to VSB lit. a (branch, representative office or group company of the bank), and the GwV list contains no recognition by the bank. Abs. 2 is parallel to VSB Abs. 2 but adds that the copy must have been obtained when issuing a qualified certificate, which the text of VSB Art. 11 Abs. 2 does not state. - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 48 - Form and handling of documents|GwV-FINMA Art. 48]] — Abs. 1: identification documents are presented in the original or as a certified copy. - [[VSB 20 Art. 10 - Identification by correspondence|VSB 20 Art. 10]] — the correspondence identification for which the certified copy is required. ## Part of - [[VSB 20]] ## Sources - VSB 20 (Vereinbarung vom 13. Juni 2018, in force 1.1.2020), Art. 11 - SBVg Kommentar zur VSB 20 (2020), Art. 11