Anyone who mediates payments between buyers and sellers on a Swiss marketplace may fall under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). The decisive factor is whether you provide "payment services" within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA – and whether this activity exceeds the professional threshold values of the AMLO. If both are the case, you need either an affiliation with a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) or a direct FINMA licence.

This guide explains the authoritative legal basis, shows when a marketplace is considered a financial intermediary and when it is not, and describes the concrete obligations in the event of subordination – including the option to outsource these obligations to a regulated Payment Service Provider (PSP).

1. What does "financial intermediary" mean in Swiss law?

Under Swiss law, a financial intermediary is a person who on a professional basis accepts, keeps on deposit or helps to invest or transfer third-party assets. The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) distinguishes between two categories: The financial intermediaries supervised under special legislation according to Art. 2 para. 2 AMLA (banks, insurance companies, securities firms) are subject to direct FINMA supervision. The other financial intermediaries according to Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA – the so-called parabanking sector – can choose whether to place themselves directly under the Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht (FINMA) or to affiliate with a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) recognised by FINMA.

For marketplace operators, Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA is particularly relevant. This category of offences covers persons who "provide services for payment transactions, in particular by executing electronic transfers for third parties or issuing or managing means of payment such as credit cards and traveller's cheques". Specifically: If your marketplace accepts customer funds and forwards them to Comerciantes, you potentially fulfil this statutory definition.

However, whether you are actually subject to the subordination obligation as a financial intermediary depends on a second criterion: professionalism.

2. Professionalism criteria according to the AMLO

The Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO) defines in Art. 7 when a financial intermediary activity is deemed to be professional. An affiliation or licensing requirement only arises if at least one of the following criteria is met:

For marketplaces with regular payment transactions, the gross revenue and transaction volume criteria are particularly relevant. A marketplace that processes EUR 200’000 in payments monthly exceeds the threshold of EUR 2 million transaction volume after just ten months. Important: The money or value transfer business is always deemed to be professional under Art. 9 AMLO – unless it is conducted for related parties with gross revenues of no more than EUR 50’000 per calendar year.

Activities for related parties (e.g. spouses, registered partners) are only taken into account if the gross revenue exceeds EUR 50’000 per calendar year (Art. 7 para. 4 AMLO). In practice, this exception hardly ever applies to marketplace models.

3. SRO affiliation vs. direct FINMA subordination

If professionalism is established, you have two options as a financial intermediary in the parabanking sector:

Option A: Affiliation with an SRO

A self-regulatory organisation (SRO) is an industry association recognised by FINMA that supervises its members and monitors compliance with AMLA obligations. In Switzerland, there are several SROs, including the Association for Quality Assurance in Financial Services (VQF), PolyReg and industry-specific SROs. Affiliation with an SRO is the more practical solution for most marketplaces, as the effort involved is significantly lower than for a FINMA licence.

Costs: The admission fee for an SRO such as PolyReg is approx. EUR 1’600. Annual membership fees vary depending on the size of the operating entity, starting at around EUR 1’500 to EUR 5’000 for smaller financial intermediaries. Added to this are auditing costs, which can range from EUR 3’000 to EUR 15’000 per year depending on complexity.

Option B: Direct FINMA licensing

Direct subordination under FINMA is an alternative that, in practice, is primarily worthwhile for larger or higher-risk business models. The licensing process is more complex, and FINMA levies fees for the review and ongoing supervision. For most SME marketplaces, this option is disproportionate.

Important: According to Art. 11 para. 1 AMLO, you must submit an application for affiliation or a license within two months after switching to professionalism. Until the procedure is concluded, you may only perform acts that are absolutely necessary to preserve the assets.

4. When a marketplace is not considered a financial intermediary

Not every marketplace on which payments flow is automatically subject to the AMLA. There are clear constellations in which there is no financial intermediation:

Accessory secondary service

If the payment processing merely represents a subordinate secondary service to your main activity, the so-called accessoriness exception can apply. The FINMA Circular 2011/1 indicates that the gross revenue from the payment transaction service must not exceed 10% of the entire gross corporate revenue. In addition, the funds for processing payments must come from the general funds of the main service provider.

Auxiliary person of a regulated PSP

Art. 2 para. 2 lit. a no. 2 AMLA exempts auxiliary persons of financial intermediaries licensed or affiliated in Switzerland from the subordination requirement – under clear conditions: The auxiliary person must not act independently, must be included in the organisational measures of the financial intermediary to combat money laundering and must be trained accordingly. In practice, this means: If you, as a marketplace operator, use a regulated PSP such as Payrexx and fully outsource payment processing to them, you potentially act as an auxiliary person and are not subject to subordination yourself.

No cash flow through the marketplace

If your marketplace merely functions as a mediation platform and buyers pay directly to the Comerciantes (e.g. via their own payment page), there is no financial intermediation. You neither accept third-party assets nor do you help to transfer them.

Below the professionalism threshold

Even if a financial intermediary activity within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA is present, no affiliation requirement arises as long as none of the professionalism criteria under Art. 7 AMLO are met. However, this exception is only temporary – as soon as a threshold value is exceeded, the two-month deadline applies.

5. Obligations in case of AMLA subordination: What lies ahead for you

If your marketplace is considered a financial intermediary and professionalism is given, you must fulfil the following due diligence obligations:

Identification of the contracting party (KYC)

According to Art. 3 AMLA, you must establish the identity of your contracting partners on the basis of evidentiary documents when entering into a business relationship. In the case of legal entities, this additionally includes verifying the authorisation rules and the identity of the person acting.

Establishing the beneficial owner

Art. 4 AMLA requires that you identify the beneficial owner behind a business relationship – i.e. the natural person to whom the assets ultimately belong or who effectively controls the business relationship.

Duty to document

All transactions and clarifications must be documented in accordance with Art. 7 AMLA in such a way that expert third parties can form a reliable opinion. The records must be kept in Switzerland for at least ten years.

Duty to report in case of suspicion (MROS)

Art. 9 AMLA establishes a duty to report in case of reasonable suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing. The report is submitted to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) at the Federal Office of Police. The duty to report must be fulfilled immediately – a delay or failure to do so can have criminal consequences (Art. 37 AMLA). In parallel to the report, an asset freeze applies: The assets involved in the report must not be moved until the MROS responds or a statutory deadline expires.

Internal organization

As a financial intermediary subject to the AMLA, you must have an internal control system (Art. 8 AMLA). This includes clear responsibilities, a compliance officer, training for employees and a transaction monitoring system that can detect unusual patterns.

6. Checklist: What you should check before launching

Before launching your marketplace with a payment function, you should systematically clarify the following points:

• Analyze payment flow: Does money flow through an own account or is it directly split by the PSP?

• Check financial intermediation: Do you fulfil the statutory definition of Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA (payment transaction services)?

• Check professionalism criteria: Do you exceed one of the thresholds according to Art. 7 AMLO (EUR 50’000 gross revenue, 20+ business relationships, EUR 2 million transaction volume)?

• Check accessoriness exception: Does the payment transaction service make up less than 10% of your corporate revenue?

• Check auxiliary model: Are you contractually and organizationally involved as an auxiliary person of a regulated PSP?

• Plan SRO affiliation: Obtain offers from VQF, PolyReg or an industry-specific SRO and plan the lead time (typically 2–4 months).

• Define KYC processes: How do you identify Comerciantes on your marketplace? Manually, via video identification or through your PSP?

• Establish MROS reporting process: Define internally who triggers the report to the MROS in case of suspicion and how the asset freeze is implemented operationally.

• Ensure documentation: Set up a system for the ten-year retention of records.

• Obtain legal assessment: Have your concrete payment flow reviewed by a law firm specialized in financial market law – the distinction is complex in individual cases.

7. How Payrexx supports you with AMLA compliance

Payrexx is a Swiss Payment Service Provider (PSP) with a marketplace payment solution specially designed for platform operators. Through the split payment model, the buyer's payment flows directly through Payrexx:

The platform's commission goes to the marketplace, the remaining balance to the Comerciantes – without the marketplace itself touching customer funds. Payrexx takes care of the KYC and onboarding of sub-Comerciantes, the due diligence requirements according to the AMLA, as well as the payouts to the Comerciantes.

All major Swiss payment methods are supported – from TWINT and PostFinance to credit cards and the QR-bill. Integration takes place via a documented API, which can be integrated into existing platforms.