# VSB 20 Art. 40 — Foundations - **Rubric (DE):** Stiftungen - **Rubric (EN):** Foundations - **Chapter:** 4. Kapitel — Feststellung des wirtschaftlich Berechtigten an den Vermögenswerten (3. Abschnitt: Besondere Feststellungspflichten) - **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 The contracting party must record the required details on the foundation (*Stiftung*) by written declaration or on *Formular S*; the declaration must have content equivalent to the model form (Abs. 1). Groupings of persons (*Personenverbindungen*) and asset units (*Vermögenseinheiten*) in which no particular persons are beneficially entitled are treated analogously to foundations under Abs. 1 (Abs. 2). For operating foundations (*operativ tätige Stiftungen*), the controlling persons (*Kontrollinhaber*) are established in accordance with Art. 20 ff. (Abs. 3). ## Context & interpretation The SBA commentary (joint for Art. 40 and 41) states that they are *lex specialis* to Art. 39 and cover revocable, irrevocable, discretionary and non-discretionary structures; for mixed forms (revocable/irrevocable or discretionary/non-discretionary), the predominant characteristic of the structure decides how its type is indicated on Formular S or T. Where the foundation or trust has an exclusively ideal purpose, Art. 39 Abs. 4 lit. a applies: the beneficial owner need not be established, and the bank documents the facts in a suitable way. If an operating legal person or partnership is listed under Ziff. 2, 3 or 5 of the model forms, its controlling persons are established unless the exemptions in Art. 22 ff. apply. ## FATF - [[FATF R.10 - Customer due diligence|FATF R.10]] — identification of the persons behind a foundation or similar structure on the contracting party's declaration (Formular S), and of the controlling persons of operating foundations. ## Swiss counterparts - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 64 - Groupings of persons, trusts, asset|GwV-FINMA Art. 64]] — parallel rule: for groupings of persons, trusts and other asset units, a written declaration on the founder, trustees, curators/protectors or other appointed persons, named beneficiaries (or the category of possible beneficiaries), persons who can instruct the contracting party or its organs, and, for revocable structures, the persons entitled to revoke; the text does not name foundations expressly, whereas VSB Art. 40 does. - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 56 - Controlling person – principle|GwV-FINMA Art. 56]] — related: controlling-person declaration where the contracting party is an operating legal person or partnership; VSB Art. 40 Abs. 3 refers to Art. 20 ff. for operating foundations. - [[VSB 20 Art. 39 - Domiciliary companies|VSB 20 Art. 39]] — the general rule for domiciliary companies (including foundations that are not operating), subject to Art. 40 and 41 (Art. 39 Abs. 1); the commentary calls Art. 40 and 41 *lex specialis* to it. - [[VSB 20 Art. 20 - Establishing the controlling persons|VSB 20 Art. 20]] — establishing the controlling persons of operating legal persons, to which Abs. 3 refers. - [[VSB 20 Art. 28 - Information to be documented|VSB 20 Art. 28]] — the commentary states that its remarks on Formular A (Art. 28), except Abs. 3, apply analogously to Formulare S and T. ## Part of - [[VSB 20]] ## Further AMLR connections - [[AMLR Art. 57 - BO for entities similar to express trust|AMLR Art. 57]] — Content comes from Formular S (Abs. 1), not the article text: founder, determined beneficiaries or beneficiary group, and persons who can appoint representatives with power over the assets or change distributions or beneficiaries. Foundation council members are not listed as such (one signs as declarant); operating foundations fall under Art. 20 ff. (Abs. 3). *(related)* ## Sources - VSB 20 (Vereinbarung vom 13. Juni 2018, in force 1.1.2020), Art. 40 - SBVg Kommentar zur VSB 20 (2020), Art. 40 und 41