# VSB 20 Art. 8 — Identification by other appropriate means - **Rubric (DE):** Identifizierung auf andere zweckdienliche Weise - **Rubric (EN):** Identification by other appropriate means - **Chapter:** 2. Kapitel — Identifizierung des Vertragspartners (1. Abschnitt: Allgemeine Bestimmungen) - **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 Where, exceptionally, a contracting party cannot be identified in the prescribed manner, for example because a person has no identification papers or because no corresponding documents exist for a public-law corporation or institution, the bank may identify the contracting party by other appropriate means: by inspecting other probative documents or by obtaining from the contracting party corresponding confirmations from public bodies or, for a legal person, the latest audit report (*Testat*) of a recognised audit firm. Confirmations and copies of substitute documents are to be put on file, and the exceptional situation must be justified in a file note (*Aktennotiz*). ## Context & interpretation The SBA commentary states that the provision regulates special cases in which a contracting party cannot be identified in the prescribed manner because the required documents are not obtainable. The bank may then obtain other documents suitable for identification and put them on file, and has a reasonable margin of discretion. It adds that Art. 8 applies analogously to verifying the identity of the account opener (*Eröffner*) under Art. 15. ## FATF - [[FATF R.10 - Customer due diligence|FATF R.10]] — identification and verification of the customer's identity, here where the prescribed documents are unavailable. ## Swiss counterparts - [[GwV-FINMA Art. 50 - Waiver of certification and missing|GwV-FINMA Art. 50]] — Abs. 2 parallel: where the contracting party has no identification documents, identity may exceptionally be established by probative substitute documents, with a file note; the examples of public-law bodies, confirmations from public bodies and the latest audit report of a legal person are in VSB Art. 8 only. - [[GwG Art. 3 - Verification of the identity of|GwG Art. 3]] — statutory basis: identification of the contracting party on the basis of a probative document (Abs. 1). ## Part of - [[VSB 20]] ## Sources - VSB 20 (Vereinbarung vom 13. Juni 2018, in force 1.1.2020), Art. 8 - SBVg Kommentar zur VSB 20 (2020), Art. 8