Focusing On Country Risk: Traditional And Virtual Assets In The Know Your Customer (KYC) Process

Virtual assets are an integral part of the global financial landscape. The country risk analysis is part of the KYC process. Virtual assets need to be assessed in a differentiated way.

KYC process and country risk

The Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) takes a risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. This is also derived from the first of the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This global basic principle for combating money laundering assumes that the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing are situation- and case-specific.

The AMLA therefore provides for different control intensities and periodicities depending on the risk of the respective business relationship. Depending on the sector, business relationships must be assessed on the basis of certain criteria. If a potential business partner is domiciled or resident in a high-risk country or is a national of such a country, this has a