Publication of the revised FINMA-Circular 2016/07 “Video and Online Identification”
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (“FINMA”) published the final draft of the revised Circular 2016/07 “Video and Online Identification” (“Circular 2016/07”) on 17 July 2018. Circular 2016/07 is applicable to financial intermediaries (“FI”) according to Art. 2 para. 2 of the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AMLA”) as well as FIs according to Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA.
The revised Circular 2016/07 will enter into force granting a transitional period which last until 1 January 2020. In other words, until 1 January 2020 the FI can choose whether to apply the previous requirements under Circular 2016/07 or implement the revised (less stringent) requirements. Originally, a transitional period of six months was envisaged, which, however, was deemed too short in particular by interest groups of banks.
This NKF Client News outlines the key changes and substantial contents of the revised Circular 2016/07.