Transparency Register reporting, handled for you

The Swiss Transparency Register is a central, non-public federal register of the natural persons who control Swiss companies. It is kept by the Federal Office of Justice and has been in operation since 1 October 2026, when the TJPG and its ordinance entered into force. Its purpose is to let authorities establish quickly who stands behind a company, as part of Switzerland's measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. A control office at the Federal Department of Finance checks that entries are accurate, complete and up to date (Art. 35 TJPG).

AGs, GmbHs, cooperatives, partnerships limited by shares, SICAVs, SICAFs and limited partnerships for collective investment must report, whatever their size. So must foreign legal entities with a Swiss branch, effective management in Switzerland or Swiss property (Art. 2 TJPG). Sole proprietorships, partnerships, associations and foundations are not covered. Exempt are listed companies and subsidiaries held more than 75% by listed companies, occupational pension institutions, and legal entities at least 75% held by public bodies (Art. 3 TJPG). In a group, the holding and each subsidiary report separately. An exempt company cannot report voluntarily.

A beneficial owner is always a natural person. It is anyone who holds at least 25% of the capital or votes, alone or together with others, or who controls the company in another way (Art. 4 TJPG). Through an intermediate company, a person counts if they hold more than 50% of it and it holds at least 25% of yours. If no one meets these tests, your company reports the most senior member of its managing body instead. That is a different case from an owner who exists but cannot be identified or verified. There, your company documents the steps it took and reports what it knows through a dedicated EasyGov process.

For each beneficial owner, the report gives surname and first names, date of birth, all nationalities, municipality and country of residence, and the type and extent of control (Art. 9 TJPG). The extent is given in one of three bands: 25 to 50%, over 50 to 75%, or over 75%. Where control runs through intermediate companies, the extent is based on the direct holding in your company. If the chain has two or more intermediaries or includes a trust or fiduciary, or a beneficial owner is under asset-freeze measures, each link is reported too, with name, legal form, seat and UID (Art. 15 TJPV). Your company must also verify these details with due care, document the checks and keep the records for ten years after the person stops being a beneficial owner (Art. 7 and 8 TJPG).

Most GmbHs have two years, until 1 October 2028, because their partners are entered in the commercial register. The two-year deadline applies whenever all beneficial owners are entered there as partners or officers (Art. 51 TJPG). In an AG, shareholders are not entered in the commercial register, so an AG has five months, until 1 March 2027, unless every beneficial owner also sits on the board. An AG subject to an ordinary audit has three months. Other companies have six months, or four with an ordinary audit. The one-month rule can shorten any of these deadlines.

An existing company must report no later than one month after the first change to its commercial register entry made after 1 October 2026, even if its transitional deadline would run longer (Art. 51 TJPG). A new board member, a new registered office, an amendment to the articles or new signing rights all count. The month runs from publication in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SHAB), so a change published on 9 October must be reported by 9 November. If you are planning a change, we file your report first.

A company formed from 1 October 2026 must report its beneficial owners within one month of its entry in the commercial register (Art. 9 TJPG). When we handle your company formation, we plan the report into the process.

Two types of company can report by confirming details the commercial register already holds. A GmbH qualifies if all its partners are natural persons and the people to be reported are the partners holding at least 25% of the capital. A one-person AG qualifies if its sole shareholder is a natural person and also its only board member. In both cases the company must not be in liquidation, bankruptcy or a debt-restructuring moratorium (Art. 35 and 36 TJPV). A fiduciary arrangement or a company among the shareholders rules the simplified procedure out.

Yes. Entries, changes, deletions and confirmations of entry are free of charge (Art. 41 TJPG). The authority charges for register extracts, and for reminders, requests and orders it has to issue, for example when a report is late or an identity cannot be verified. If someone asks you to pay for the entry itself, you are not dealing with an official body. Our fee covers the work behind the report: identifying and verifying your beneficial owners, documenting the checks and filing on your behalf. See our pricing page.

Yes. The most senior member of your managing body is responsible for the report, but may delegate it to a third party such as a fiduciary (Art. 12 TJPG). If your company is not yet on EasyGov, we request access and EasyGov posts a power of attorney form to your registered office. You sign it in line with your signing rights in the commercial register and return it. If your company is already on EasyGov, you invite us as an authorised user. Responsibility for the content stays with your board or management, which is why you receive the register's confirmation and our full documentation.

Yes, within one month of your company learning of them (Art. 10 TJPG). A report is due when a beneficial owner joins or leaves, when a holding crosses one of the bands at 25, 50 or 75%, or when a beneficial owner moves to another municipality or country. A change within a band does not need to be reported. Company details such as name, legal form and registered office are taken over from the commercial register automatically, and changes to a beneficial owner's name or nationality from the federal person database. We file change reports at our hourly rate of CHF 160. You tell us when ownership changes.

The register is not public. Access is limited to the control office, the authorities named in the law, and financial intermediaries and certain advisers, who may use it only for their legal duties, such as anti-money laundering checks (Art. 25 to 31 TJPG). Your company cannot browse the register, but it can order a confirmation of its entry or an extract. A bank that finds a discrepancy between the register and its own records must report it.

The register authority and the control office check whether companies have reported, and send fee-based requests to those that have not. If a company repeatedly fails to report, or does not put it right after repeated requests, the participation and property rights of its shareholders and partners can be suspended (Art. 38 TJPG). Intentionally breaching the reporting duty, or giving false information, can bring a fine of up to CHF 500,000. Ignoring a final order from the control office can bring a fine of up to CHF 100,000 (Art. 43 and 44 TJPG).

Not as an ongoing duty. The register under CO Art. 697l (and Art. 790a for GmbHs) was repealed on 1 October 2026. What applies instead: your company must identify and verify its beneficial owners, document how, keep the information up to date and accessible in Switzerland, and keep the records for ten years after a person stops being a beneficial owner (Art. 7 and 8 TJPG). The register you already have must be kept for ten years from 1 October 2026 (Art. 50 TJPG). It is also the best starting point for the first report, which asks for more data, such as date of birth and nationalities. Earlier notifications from shareholders remain valid as long as the persons notified are also beneficial owners under the new law (Art. 49 TJPG).

A foreign legal entity must report if it has a branch entered in the Swiss commercial register, its effective management in Switzerland, or owns or acquires Swiss property (Art. 2 TJPG). It has six months from 1 October 2026, until 1 April 2027 (Art. 53 TJPG), and needs a representative or an address for service in Switzerland (Art. 17 TJPG). A foreign company buying Swiss property must be entered in the register before the purchase can be recorded in the land register. A Swiss subsidiary of a foreign group reports in its own right, like any other Swiss company.