Switzerland's transparency register: who has to report now, and by when

Since 1 October 2026, almost every AG, GmbH and cooperative in Switzerland has to tell the federal government which people really stand behind it. The report is free and in most cases quick to do – but nobody enters you automatically, and for many companies the deadline already expires at the end of 2026 or early in 2027. Here you'll find out whether you are affected, which deadline applies to you and how the report works on EasyGov.

Switzerland's transparency register in brief

On 1 October 2026, the Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners entered into force – known by its German abbreviation TJPG. Parliament passed the act on 26 September 2025, and on 12 June 2026 the Federal Council set the date of entry into force (Federal Council press release). With the act in force, the Swiss transparency register also went live.

The transparency register records which people really stand behind a company – in other words, who controls it through capital, voting rights or in some other way. It is kept by the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ). A control office at the Federal Department of Finance checks whether the information is correct, complete and up to date. The aim: to make money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion harder and to bring Switzerland in line with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

What matters for you: the register is not public. Only the control office, certain authorities, and financial intermediaries and advisers have access – and only to fulfil their duties under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. You can't search the register yourself either. You can, however, order a confirmation of your entry or an extract from the register.

What changes compared with before

AGs and GmbHs already had to collect and keep information on their beneficial owners – but only internally, in the share register or the register of members. Now this information goes into a central federal register, and your company has to report it actively and keep it up to date. The register is based on self-declaration: nobody enters you automatically, and nobody reminds you of the deadline before it expires.

Who has to register in the transparency register?

Most legal entities under Swiss law are subject to the reporting obligation (Art. 2 TJPG):

• Companies limited by shares (AG) and partnerships limited by shares
• Limited liability companies (GmbH)
• Cooperatives
• Investment companies with variable or fixed capital (SICAV, SICAF) and limited partnerships for collective investment schemes

On top of that come foreign legal entities that have a branch entered in the Swiss commercial register, are effectively managed in Switzerland, or own or acquire real estate here.

Partnerships such as sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships and simple partnerships are not affected. According to the FOJ, associations, foundations, listed companies and their majority-owned subsidiaries, supervised pension funds and companies at least 75 percent owned by the public sector are also exempt (Art. 3 TJPG).

Working as a freelancer with a sole proprietorship? Then you don't have to report anything. That only changes when you convert your sole proprietorship into a GmbH – the new company then reports within one month of its entry in the commercial register.

Who counts as a beneficial owner?

The beneficial owner is always a person, never a company. It means the natural person who ultimately controls a company. Under Art. 4 TJPG, that is the case when someone holds at least 25 percent of the capital or voting rights, directly or indirectly, alone or acting in concert with others. Control can also exist without a large stake, for example when someone can determine important company decisions through contracts.

Two everyday examples:

• Two founders, 50 percent each: both are beneficial owners and are reported individually.
• Your GmbH is 100 percent owned by your holding company: the holding itself is not a beneficial owner. You follow the chain back to the people who control the holding – in this case, to you.

If nobody meets the criteria – for example because five shareholders each hold 20 percent and nobody controls the company in another way – the most senior member of the managing body is deemed the beneficial owner instead, for example the chair of the board of directors or the head of the management. For tricky set-ups with holdings, shareholder agreements or trusts, the FOJ has published a collection of examples.

For each beneficial owner, you report their surname and first name(s), date of birth, nationalities, residential address and country of residence, and the type and extent of control they exercise.

Which deadline applies to your company

Companies founded on or after 1 October 2026 report within one month of their entry in the commercial register. If the reported information changes later – for example because shares are sold or a beneficial owner moves house – a one-month deadline applies as well.

For companies that were already entered in the commercial register before 1 October 2026, staggered transitional deadlines apply (Art. 51 and 53 TJPG):

The first row is the most important one: if you file any change with the commercial register after 1 October 2026 – a move of registered office, a new managing director, an amendment to the articles of association – the report to the transparency register becomes due within one month, even if your longer transitional deadline would still be running.

What this means for the typical owner-managed GmbH

In a GmbH, the shareholders are listed in the commercial register. If your GmbH is owned only by people and not by a holding company, all beneficial owners are usually already entered. Without a change to the commercial register, you then have until the end of September 2028. Still, don't count on it: the first change in the commercial register shortens the deadline to one month. Since the report for these GmbHs takes only a few minutes in the simplified procedure, it is worth getting it done straight away.

What this means for the small AG

In an AG, the shareholders are not listed in the commercial register. The two-year deadline therefore only applies if all beneficial owners are also entered as officers, for example as members of the board of directors. If that is not the case and your AG has no ordinary audit, 28 February 2027 is the latest date.

Simplified report for GmbHs and single-shareholder AGs

For two common set-ups there is a simplified reporting procedure in which the information is taken over directly from the commercial register:

• GmbH: all shareholders are natural persons, and the people to be reported are exactly these shareholders with at least 25 percent of the capital.
• Single-shareholder AG: there is only one shareholder. This person is a natural person, is entered in the commercial register as the sole member of the board of directors and is the only beneficial owner.

In both cases, the company must not be in liquidation, bankruptcy or a debt-restructuring moratorium. If any condition is not met, you report in the standard procedure.

How to report via EasyGov

The report is filed via EasyGov.swiss, the federal government's online counter for businesses. According to the FOJ, reporting through the cantonal commercial register office is planned, but not yet possible.

Step 3 is the bottleneck: the letter of authorisation arrives by post. If you only start shortly before the deadline, this is where you lose the most time. That is why the FOJ explicitly recommends starting the registration early (About EasyGov).

The most senior member of the managing body is responsible for the report. You can, however, hand the task over to someone in the company or to a third party, such as your fiduciary. The authorisation applies per company, or per UID; if you look after several companies, you go through the process for each one separately.

Enter the personal details carefully. According to the FOJ, identity checks often fail because of swapped first names and surnames, typos in the date of birth or academic titles in the name field. If an identity can't be verified, your company may receive a request for correction that is subject to a fee. If in doubt, upload a copy of the person's passport or identity card.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

Entries, changes and deletions are free of charge. Reminders, requests and rulings from the registry authority or the control office, on the other hand, are subject to fees. Anyone who wilfully breaches the reporting obligation also risks a fine of up to CHF 500,000.

There is also a practical side: banks and other financial intermediaries can consult the register as part of their due diligence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. If your entry is missing or doesn't match their records, sooner or later it will come up in your dealings with the bank. The so-called discrepancy report, used to report deviations to the register, will according to the FOJ only become available at a later date.

Beyond the transparency register: your duty to keep accounts

The transparency register is not the only obligation tied to your legal form. As an AG, GmbH or cooperative, you are required to keep double-entry accounts – regardless of how much turnover you make (Art. 957 para. 1 CO). At the end of each financial year comes the annual financial statements with balance sheet, income statement and notes, and you keep your books and receipts for ten years (Art. 958f CO). Unlike the report to the transparency register, this is not a one-off but work that comes up every week.

You won't get far with Excel or a shoebox of receipts. The easiest way to meet your bookkeeping obligation is with accounting software that takes the routine off your hands – and that is exactly what we built Infinity for, Switzerland's AI accounting:

• Live Accounting connects your bank account and suggests bookings in real time that you simply confirm.
• Live Capture recognises receipts and invoices from a photo and reads out the data automatically.
• Instant Fill creates quotes and invoices without you having to fill in every field by hand.

Double-entry bookkeeping runs in the background, and your annual financial statements build on cleanly booked figures instead of a pile of receipts in February. We explain how double-entry bookkeeping works in principle in our guide to double-entry bookkeeping. And if you would rather hand over the year-end closing or the report to the transparency register, Infinity's fiduciary directory helps you find a fiduciary near you.

Frequently asked questions about the transparency register

Further information

• Swiss transparency register (FOJ)
• Questions and answers about the transparency register
• Who has to report?
• EasyGov.swiss
• TJPG on Fedlex and TJPV ordinance
• FOJ press release on the launch

You'll find more on choosing a legal form and setting up a company in our guides to setting up a GmbH and setting up an AG.