Controlling person (Swiss AML)

For operating companies in Switzerland, the natural person who holds at least 25 percent of the capital or votes or controls the company in another way.

In practice

Family-owned operating companies often have shareholdings spread across siblings, holding companies and pooling agreements, so the controlling person is not always obvious. In practice, the family office keeps the share register, voting agreements and board composition up to date, determines the controlling persons once from that record and provides consistent information to every bank. When shares change hands or a voting agreement is signed, the assessment and the forms are updated.

Distinctions and common mistakes

The controlling person of an operating company is not the same as the beneficial owner of a domiciliary company, for which banks use Form A. Typical mistakes are overlooking that exactly 25 percent is enough in Switzerland and looking only at percentages while control through voting agreements or other means goes unrecorded.

Related terms

Beneficial owner

The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company, foundation or trust, or on whose behalf a transaction is carried out.

Forms A, K, S and T

Standardised forms used by Swiss banks to establish the beneficial owner: A in general, K for controlling persons, S for foundations and T for trusts.

Mentioned in these guides

• Trust or foundation? A comparisonTrust or foundation for family wealth? Legal nature, control, recognition in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, tax and compliance compared side by side.
• KYC for trusts: which documents are requiredWhich documents banks and family offices require for a trust: trust deed, letter of wishes, information on settlor, trustee, protector and beneficiaries.
• DAC8 and CARF: reporting of crypto-assetsWhat DAC8 and the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework mean for family offices holding crypto-assets: timeline in the EU and Switzerland and how to prepare.
• FATCA in Switzerland: what family offices need to knowHow FATCA works in Switzerland, what the Model 2 agreement means, how structures are classified and what the planned move to Model 1 changes for family offices.
• Swiss transparency register: reporting beneficial ownersIn operation since 1 October 2026: who must register in the Swiss transparency register, what is reported, who has access and how family offices proceed.
• Due diligence obligations under the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering ActDue diligence under the Swiss AMLA: identifying the contracting party, establishing the beneficial owner, special clarifications, records – and practice.
• Swiss Form K: controlling persons of operating companiesWho counts as the controlling person of an operating company, how the 25 per cent threshold and fallback rule work and when Swiss banks require Form K.
• The Due Diligence Act (SPG) in LiechtensteinWhat Liechtenstein's Due Diligence Act requires: identification, beneficial owners, business profile, monitoring and reporting suspicions to the FIU.