International Administrative Assistance in Switzerland

International Administrative Assistance

International administrative assistance differs from criminal MLA in that it concerns cooperation between administrative, not judicial, authorities. In Switzerland, it is particularly important in the fiscal and financial sectors.

Exchange of Tax Information

Switzerland has considerably expanded its international fiscal cooperation in recent years:

Exchange on request: Based on double taxation conventions (DTCs) and the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, Switzerland transmits tax information to partner states upon request. The Tax Administrative Assistance Act (TAAA) governs the procedure.

Automatic exchange of information (AEOI): Since 2017, Switzerland automatically exchanges information on financial accounts with a growing number of partner countries, in accordance with the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

FINMA Cooperation

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) cooperates with its foreign counterparts on financial market supervision. Art. 42 FINMASA permits the transmission of non-publicly accessible information to foreign supervisory authorities.

Conditions for Administrative Assistance

Administrative assistance is subject to conditions:

1. The speciality principle (information may only be used for the stated purposes)
2. Compliance with data protection
3. The consent of the person concerned or the existence of a legal basis
4. Reciprocity

Rights of Persons Concerned

Persons whose data is transmitted under administrative assistance have the right to be informed and to file an appeal before the Federal Administrative Court (FAC).