# VSB 20 Art. 15 — Checking the identity of persons establishing business relationships and taking note of power of attorney arrangements - **Rubric (DE):** Überprüfung der Identität der Eröffner und Kenntnisnahme von Bevollmächtigungsbestimmungen - **Rubric (EN):** Checking the identity of persons establishing business relationships and taking note of power of attorney arrangements - **Chapter:** 2. Kapitel — Identifizierung des Vertragspartners (3. Abschnitt: Juristische Personen und Personengesellschaften) - **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: for legal persons and partnerships, the identity of the natural persons who open the business relationship (*Eröffner*) must be checked; this can be done by a copy of a document within the meaning of Art. 9 or an authenticated copy of an identification document within the meaning of Art. 10. Abs. 2: the identity can also be checked by authentication of the signature, which the persons / institutions named in Art. 11 can issue. Abs. 3: when opening relationships with legal persons, the bank must also take note of and document the contracting party's power of attorney arrangements (*Bevollmächtigungsbestimmungen*). Abs. 4: for relationships with financial intermediaries under Art. 24 or 33, signature books, electronic keys or other customary means may be exchanged instead of the procedure in Abs. 1–3. Abs. 5: no repetition is needed where the check or the taking note was already done for an existing relationship. ## Context & interpretation The SBA commentary states that *Eröffner* are the persons who represent the company towards the bank on opening and sign the opening documents. The data under Art. 7 Abs. 1 need not be collected for them and their residential address need not be noted or checked. The power of attorney arrangements can be taken note of through a commercial register extract or other documents on authorisation; no formal requirements exist for documenting them. Abs. 4 reflects, in particular, the special standards in interbank business. ## FATF - [[FATF R.10 - Customer due diligence|FATF R.10]] — related: checking the identity of the persons who open a relationship for a legal-person or partnership customer and taking note of its authorisation rules. ## Swiss counterparts - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 44 - Required information|GwV-FINMA Art. 44]] — Abs. 3 is the parallel rule: for a legal person or partnership as contracting party, the intermediary takes note of and documents its authorisation rules and checks the identity of the persons who open the relationship on its behalf. It covers partnerships in the authorisation-rules duty, whereas VSB Art. 15 Abs. 3 names legal persons only. - [[GwG Art. 3 - Verification of the identity of|GwG Art. 3]] — statutory basis: Abs. 1, second sentence, for a legal person as contracting party requires taking note of the authorisation rules and checking the identity of the persons who open the relationship in its name. - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 39 - Documentation obligations|GwV-FINMA Art. 39]] — the commentary cites its lit. c on the register of authorised persons (an *Eröffner* need only be entered if he also holds signing authority for the relationship). - [[VSB 20 Art. 24 - Banks and other financial intermediaries|VSB 20 Art. 24]] — financial intermediaries to which Abs. 4 applies (together with Art. 33). - [[VSB 20 Art. 33 - Banks and other financial intermediaries|VSB 20 Art. 33]] — financial intermediaries to which Abs. 4 applies (together with Art. 24). - [[VSB 20 Art. 44 - Duty to ensure documentation|VSB 20 Art. 44]] — the commentary links the documentation of the identity check to the duty to ensure documentation. - [[VSB 20 Art. 13 - Unregistered entities and authorities|VSB 20 Art. 13]] — the commentary there states that Art. 15 does not apply to condominium communities. ## Related VSB articles - [[VSB 20 Art. 9 - Identification on face-to-face meeting|VSB 20 Art. 9]] — referred to in the article text - [[VSB 20 Art. 10 - Identification by correspondence|VSB 20 Art. 10]] — referred to in the article text - [[VSB 20 Art. 11 - Issuers of authenticity certifications|VSB 20 Art. 11]] — referred to in the article text ## Part of - [[VSB 20]] ## Further AMLR connections - [[AMLR Art. 20 - CDD measures|AMLR Art. 20]] — VSB Art. 15 requires banks to verify the identity of the natural persons opening a legal entity's or partnership's relationship and, for legal entities, to take note of and document their signing-authority rules; AMLR Art. 20(1)(i) applies to any person purporting to act for the customer and requires verifying that they are authorised. *(related)* - [[AMLR Art. 22 - ID - verify customer + BO|AMLR Art. 22]] — 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)* ## Sources - VSB 20 (Vereinbarung vom 13. Juni 2018, in force 1.1.2020), Art. 15 - SBVg Kommentar zur VSB 20 (2020), Art. 15