Client updates on the regulatory and cross-border questions the practice advises on, newest first.
Art collections in Swiss freeports under Swiss customs, VAT and cultural-property law
A Swiss duty-free warehouse is part of Swiss customs territory: import duty and import VAT are deferred until release, but storage of cultural property counts as an import under the Cultural Property Transfer Act and must be declared with the particulars the Ordinance has prescribed since 1 January 2026. The applicable regime, the declaration, the points the storage contract should resolve and the effect of a sale, a financing, an exhibition loan or a shipment to New York are taken event by event. Swiss federal law as at 20 October 2026, with the US entry identified.
First filings in Switzerland's transparency register and the cohort deadlines from 1 January 2027
Switzerland's register of beneficial owners under the Transparency of Legal Entities Act (TJPG) has operated since 1 October 2026. Existing Swiss companies file in cohorts: stock corporations under ordinary audit by 1 January 2027 on the register authority's method, other companies under ordinary audit by 1 February, other stock corporations by 1 March, everyone else and foreign entities by 1 April 2027, or within two years where every beneficial owner is in the commercial register; a first commercial register change brings the date forward to one month after publication where that is earlier. What to file under Article 9, the Article 11 route, the duty chain, access and sanctions are covered as well.
Article 12g of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014: the re-export clause in EU sales contracts
Since March 2024 EU exporters of covered goods must contractually prohibit re-export to Russia, with remedies and breach reporting. Article 12gb adds a due-diligence duty for common high priority items, Article 8a requires EU parents' best efforts to keep third-country subsidiaries from undermining the sanctions, and the 20th package applied the model to tankers. Four failure patterns recur, each with its fix; the Council's listings of 12 October 2026 are included.
Switzerland's Investment Screening Act and the approval of acquisitions by foreign state investors
Switzerland's Investment Screening Act, adopted on 19 December 2025, will require prior approval of acquisitions of control by foreign state investors over Swiss companies in listed critical sectors above size thresholds, decided by SECO and, in contested or politically significant cases, the Federal Council. The consultation on the implementing ordinance closed on 5 October 2026 and SECO states that entry into force is planned for 2027. The update covers the scope, the two tiers of sectors and thresholds, the prior ruling, the deadlines and the drafting of deal documents signed now.
Swiss advisers under Article 2(3bis) GwG and the 1 December 2026 deadline to apply for SRO affiliation
Since 1 October 2026 Swiss law brings advisers who take part in specified property and legal-entity transactions into the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Article 12d of the ordinance defines taking part to include advice that causally contributes to a legal act connected with the transaction; Article 12f sets the professional test; advisers already active must apply to a self-regulatory organisation by 1 December 2026. The update draws the line between advisers inside and outside the perimeter and describes what the first affiliation decisions involve.
Art-backed lending under New York law, and the work held in a Swiss warehouse
This update follows a lender's security over a painting through New York UCC Article 9: the signed security agreement and its description, filing where the debtor is located rather than where the work hangs, possession through a storage facility's acknowledgment, the priority of storage liens and of buyers from a dealer, the four-month rule when the debtor moves, and enforcement rules that can be waived only after default. Under Swiss law rights in rem follow the work, a Swiss pledge needs possession, and a New York filing alone does not create a Swiss pledge over a work that is in Switzerland when the security is taken. New York and Swiss federal law.
An Irish holding company for a Swiss, UK, US or Ukrainian group under the Companies Act 2014
Ireland's private company limited by shares is a common EU holding vehicle for groups based outside the EEA. The Companies Act 2014 and the beneficial ownership regulations set the terms: a single natural-person director, at least one EEA-resident director or a EUR 25,000 bond or a section 140 certificate, a secretary, PPSN-based identity in CRO filings, beneficial-ownership filing within five months, a first annual return date six months after incorporation with 56 days to file, and size-based exemptions for accounts and audit. These are the non-tax mechanics for Swiss, UK, US and Ukrainian parents; tax belongs with the group's tax advisers.
The UK art dealer's AML and sanctions duties, and the evidence a collector is asked for
The art market participant threshold under the UK Money Laundering Regulations 2017 has been GBP 10,000 since 30 June 2026. The update covers the trigger for customer due diligence, what a London dealer must establish about a buyer and a purchasing vehicle, enhanced due diligence and the consequences if the collector declines; the separate sanctions regime follows, including the reporting duty on art market participants since 14 May 2025 and the position of a US collector under OFAC. United Kingdom, with a short US, EU and Swiss comparison.
Identity verification at UK Companies House and the company-by-company deadlines to 17 November 2026
Every individual who is a director or person with significant control of a UK company must verify their identity with Companies House. The transitional period under SI 2025/1118 ends on 17 November 2026, but each company's deadline for existing directors is its next confirmation statement (its delivery or, if late, the end of its delivery period), and existing PSCs who are not directors provide their personal code in a fourteen-day window in their birth month. From the deadline section 167M of the Companies Act 2006 prohibits an unverified individual from acting as a director and makes the company liable for allowing it; verification by non-UK directors and the steps for groups with English subsidiaries are covered as well.
EU Cyber Resilience Act reporting from 11 September 2026, and the Data Act's design duty for connected products placed on the market after 12 September
Since 11 September 2026 manufacturers of products with digital elements sold in the EU must report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents having an impact on the security of the product under Article 14 of the Cyber Resilience Act: early warning within 24 hours, notification within 72 hours, through ENISA's single reporting platform, for products already on the market. For connected products placed on the market after 12 September 2026, the Data Act's access-by-design duty applies, subject to the Article 7(1) size exceptions. The update sets out what manufacturers inside and outside the EU should have in place, and what follows for importers and distributors from December 2027.
US collectors buying art in London under English law
A US collector or family office buying a work from a London dealer, at a London auction or from a private seller relies on what the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 promise about title, description and quality. Outside a consumer sale, an attribution binds the seller only as a term of the contract or as a reasonably held opinion. The passing of property and risk, and the effect of shipment to the United States or storage in Switzerland, are covered as well. England and Wales, with the Swiss and US federal customs legs identified.
The limits of the UK overseas persons exclusion and of the appointed representative route for Swiss firms
The UK overseas persons exclusion in article 72 of the Regulated Activities Order reaches dealing, arranging and advising from abroad, and an agreement to manage or safeguard made on a legitimate approach, but never managing investments or safeguarding them. An appointed representative under section 39 FSMA may advise and arrange under a principal, and may not manage or hold assets. Each of the four routes has its limit for Swiss firms with UK clients outside the Berne Agreement.
Agentic commerce under EU payments, crypto and AML law
EU payments, crypto and AML rules were written for a human customer, originator and contracting party. Applied to AI agents that buy, pay and trade, they raise five questions: the identity of the AML customer, the travel rule without a person at the keyboard, the licensing perimeter for an agent's operator, Article 50 of the AI Act and the attribution of contracts. No European regulator has yet issued agent-specific financial rules.
What the Berne Agreement gives UK firms in Switzerland
Switzerland's deference under the Berne Agreement is deeply asymmetric: a long carve-out from the Insurance Supervision Act for UK insurers, and a single registration relief for UK investment firms. Each relief has its own scope, the instrument and client lists differ from those running the other way, and FINMA holds treaty powers over UK insurers.
Four positions for a Swiss firm's UK business outside the Berne Agreement
A Swiss firm with UK business the Berne Agreement cannot reach has four positions available, and many firms will hold two at once. Each has its own reach and limits: the overseas persons exclusion has conditions of its own, a UK branch does not widen BFSA access, and a book built on the Agreement alone carries a termination timetable.
US federal securities law for US investment into a European company
US federal securities law attaches to the offer wherever the company sits, so a European issuer selling shares to US purchasers needs an exemption under US law as well. Rule 506(b) is weighed against 506(c), accredited investor verification is treated as a workflow beyond a representation, the bad actor screen reaches any holder of 20 per cent or more of the voting equity, and Delaware-style assumptions have to be rebuilt from European company law.
The Swiss portfolio manager licence: requirements and supervision
The FinIA transition for Swiss portfolio managers closed at the end of 2022. The licence requires capital of CHF 100,000 in cash and own funds at a quarter of fixed costs, with insurance counting for at most half; the CHF 100 million and CHF 500 million thresholds move a manager into the collective category on a 10-day and 90-day clock; and supervision runs through a supervisory organisation under FINMA, where supervisory cases rose from 9 to 68 in two years. FINMA's June 2026 guidance on own products in client portfolios is included.
How the United Kingdom regulates AI without an AI Act
The UK regulates AI through existing regulators applying cross-sector principles: UK GDPR and the ICO's guidance, the FCA's approach for financial firms, and coordination through the DRCF. 2026 reset the automated-decision rules (February), added a statutory duty on the ICO to prepare an AI code of practice (SI 2026/425) and announced the Regulating for Growth Bill with its AI Growth Lab; binding rules for frontier models remain only a stated intention.
Change of control in a UK or Swiss regulated target: the approvals that set the deal timetable
The acquisition of a bank, asset manager, payment firm or crypto business runs to a regulatory timetable. The UK 10 per cent control test for directive firms comes with a 60 working day assessment period; Swiss law looks to qualified participations, with foreign-control authorisation; and the UK control test for registered cryptoasset businesses was recast on 30 June 2026.
How EU, Swiss and UK law apply when an AI agent breaks out of its evaluation environment
The July 2026 reports of AI agents breaking out of an evaluation environment and reaching companies' systems bear on the duties of three parties. Frontier providers are bound by Article 55 of the EU AI Act, which the Commission reads as covering self-exfiltration; victims within NIS2, the Swiss ISG or UK NIS carry reporting duties of their own; and a deployer's logs and limits form the evidence file if a claim is made.
Five frictions for Ukrainian companies building a European presence
A Ukrainian company building a European presence most often meets five frictions: bank onboarding that stalls, funding that is hard to move out of Ukraine under NBU currency restrictions, Ukrainian CFC rules that follow the founder, substance tested by three authorities, and governance when the founder cannot travel. Taken in the right order, the worst of them can be avoided.
The four BFSA notification routes, step by step
The Berne Financial Services Agreement works through four routes run by three authorities through two platforms. Swiss firms reach the FCA register on a 60-plus-30-day clock and UK insurers reach FINMA's; UK insurance intermediaries file nothing under the Agreement, and a UK firm sending client advisers makes a notification that produces no register entry. Two eligibility conditions fall outside the BFSA verification and remain the firm's own declaration.
When an AI deployer becomes a provider under the EU AI Act
Buying an AI system does not settle the buyer's role under the EU AI Act: Article 3 and the three Article 25 triggers, branding, substantial modification and repurposing, can make a business the provider. Article 25 applies from 2 December 2027 (Annex III) and 2 August 2028 (Annex I); the Article 50(2) marking duty already applies from 2 August 2026, or 2 December 2026 for systems already on the market.
Does the EU AI Act apply in Switzerland?
Switzerland has no AI Act and has chosen not to replicate the EU's model. But the EU regulation reaches Swiss companies that place AI on the EU market or whose systems' output is used in the EU, and the Swiss layer applies regardless: FADP and FINMA expectations now, the CoE-convention implementation once enacted.
The personal exposure of directors of English subsidiaries
A director of an English subsidiary owes duties to the company personally: the general duties, and a duty to consider creditors' interests that engages at the point settled in Sequana. Shadow directorship and the limits of the parent's carve-out follow, with the six documents that belong in the appointment package before the seat is taken.
Ukraine's crypto market and MiCA alignment
Ukraine took crypto donations for its defence; now, on the EU accession path, it is rebuilding its virtual-asset law on MiCA lines. Draft law 10225-d passed its first reading in September 2025 on those lines; accession makes alignment the default, with consequences for Western CASPs and for Ukrainian crypto businesses.
Using Chinese AI models in Europe: hosted API or self-hosted weights
EU law neither bans nor exempts Chinese AI models. The AI Act does not look at a model's origin; under the GDPR the question turns on whether a hosted API or self-hosted weights are used; a significant change to the model makes the company its provider; and the Italian Garante's order against DeepSeek shows that enforcement has begun.
The non-tax drivers behind the location of a European holding company
Tax usually decides where a holding company goes, but four legal constraints can eliminate options before the tax modelling starts: director residence, capital and contribution rules, where a licensed entity must sit, and whether the structure can move later. Ireland needs an EEA-resident director, a EUR 25,000 bond or a section 140 certificate; Switzerland needs a Swiss-resident representative; and the route to move later runs differently inside and outside the EU.
The BFSA client test: which UK clients a Swiss firm may take on
Annex 5 of the Berne Financial Services Agreement admits three client categories only: high net worth covered clients, per se professional clients and eligible counterparties. This update works through the GBP 2,000,000 net-asset test, the three high net worth routes, the position of elective professional clients and the declarations the Agreement requires, as at 27 September 2026.
Labelling AI-generated content under Article 50 of the EU AI Act
The transparency rules of the EU AI Act have applied since 2 August 2026: providers must mark AI output in machine-readable form (from 2 December 2026 for systems already on the market), and deployers must disclose deepfakes and certain text to the people exposed. Ordinary business text carries no deployer disclosure duty; the exceptions and the consequences for watermarking follow.
The UK failure-to-prevent-fraud offence and non-UK groups
Since 1 September 2025 large organisations are criminally liable for fraud by associated persons intended to benefit them unless they prove reasonable prevention procedures (or that none were reasonably to be expected), and the offence reaches non-UK groups where the fraud has a UK nexus. The update sets out the six-principle defence and the senior-manager attribution rule that replaced section 196 in June 2026.
CASP wallet screening and transaction monitoring: what EU supervisors expect
Since 30 December 2024 EU crypto-asset service providers have operated under the travel rule and two sets of EBA guidelines, one of which names blockchain analytics among the mitigating measures. A screening framework needs three inputs and has to produce decisions, and the same file supports the provider's bank onboarding.
The compliance gates for Ukraine projects under EU, UK, US and Swiss law
Every Ukraine project passes three compliance gates: the sanctions and export-control regimes of the EU, UK, US and Switzerland, beside Ukraine's own; the integrity requirements of its funders; and the diligence of the banks. One file can be built to pass all three.
War-risk insurance and guarantees for Ukraine projects
Private insurers have largely withdrawn from Ukraine, and public instruments now carry most of the exposures: MIGA's SURE-backed guarantees, the EBRD's war-risk reinsurance facility, national export credit agency cover and the EU's investment guarantees. Each covers a different exposure, headline limits can overstate available capacity, and the instruments combine in a project.
Switzerland's CHF 500 million for Swiss companies in Ukraine's reconstruction, and SECO's third call
Switzerland has earmarked CHF 500 million for Swiss private-sector involvement in Ukraine's reconstruction, deployed through calls for proposals run by SECO. The twelve awarded projects show how selection works, and the requirements the third call set at Stage 1 return at Stage 2.
The UK cryptoasset regime: the FSMA gateway, 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027
The UK is adding full FSMA authorisation for cryptoasset firms on top of the existing promotions regime: seven new regulated activities under SI 2026/102, an FCA application window open since 30 September 2026 and closing on 28 February 2027, and full commencement on 25 October 2027. MLR-registered firms do not convert automatically. The perimeter and the application file are read from London, Zurich and the EU.
Switzerland's crypto licensing regime: from SRO membership to the DLT trading facility
Switzerland regulates crypto without a MiCA, by fitting tokens and activities into its existing financial-market law: a token taxonomy from FINMA's ICO guidelines, ledger-based securities under the DLT Act, statutory insolvency protection and a licensing ladder from SRO membership through the fintech licence to banking and DLT trading facility authorisation. The 2026 watchpoints and the question of holding a Swiss and an EU MiCA licence side by side come last.
EU funding for Ukraine: the Ukraine Facility and the EUR 90 billion Support Loan
The EU funds Ukraine's wartime economy and reconstruction through the EUR 50 billion Ukraine Facility, the Ukraine Investment Framework and the EUR 90 billion Ukraine Support Loan. This practical guide maps the architecture, the timeline and the channels through which Western and Ukrainian companies reach the money, with the eligibility for each.
Stablecoins under MiCA, and the PSD2 question for e-money tokens
Since 30 June 2024, an ART may be offered in the EU only where its issuer is authorised or is a credit institution, and an EMT only where its issuer is a credit or electronic money institution, subject to narrow exemptions. Redemption rights sit in MiCA itself; two of the three central reserve standards remain unadopted. Since 2 March 2026, CASPs transacting e-money tokens face the PSD2 question in live supervision, and the Article 143(3) transitional for CASPs expired on 1 July 2026.
Operational resilience under DORA for MiCA-authorised crypto-asset service providers
Since 17 January 2025 crypto-asset service providers authorised under MiCA have been financial entities under DORA, with duties covering ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing and a register of every ICT contract. In our judgement the third-party pillar weighs most on crypto firms; a five-item worklist follows.
The EU's single AML rulebook from 10 July 2027, and the deadlines before it
The AMLR applies from 10 July 2027, and the package's other dates are staggered around it: the register-access rules were due in national law in 2026, AMLA is already operating, and its direct supervision of selected entities starts in 2028. Three changes matter most, and five workstreams fill the months to July 2027.
AML duties of EU crypto-asset service providers, from the travel rule to the 2027 rulebook
Since 30 December 2024 EU crypto-asset service providers have carried the travel rule and financial-institution status under current AML law, and from July 2027 the AMLR adds the single rulebook. Three layers result, each with its own date, together with the questions authorisation teams and supervisors are asking CASPs today.
The two FATF lists and their consequences in practice
FATF listings have no direct legal force, yet they reshape due diligence, payment corridors and deals in progress. The update traces how the black and grey lists become EU, UK and Swiss obligations, and what a defensible country-risk response involves.
A Swiss firm's practical guide to serving UK clients under the BFSA
Written for Swiss banks, securities firms and asset managers, this guide takes the Berne Financial Services Agreement in the order a firm meets it: eligibility, notification through FINMA's EHP platform, ongoing obligations on the FCA register, the client file and six pitfalls to avoid.
What the Berne Financial Services Agreement changes for UK–Swiss financial services
The UK–Swiss Berne Financial Services Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2026. Its scope, the eligibility conditions, the notification procedure and the preparation needed on both sides are set out in turn.
Switzerland brings advisers and a transparency register into its AML regime from 1 October 2026
Parliament adopted the GwG revision and the new transparency act in September 2025, and both apply from 1 October 2026. From that date Switzerland has a federal register of beneficial owners and AML duties for advisers who take part in specified property and legal-entity transactions. Who is covered, the transition deadlines for Swiss and foreign entities and the SRO affiliation that advisers must apply for by 1 December 2026 are set out in turn.
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