The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority announced on 27 February 2026 that it had ordered the liquidation of MBaer Merchant Bank AG, a Zurich-based private bank, following enforcement proceedings that found failures in anti-money laundering controls and shortcomings that allowed sanctioned clients to circumvent asset freezes.
FINMA's enforcement proceedings against MBaer commenced in 2024 after supervisors identified that the bank lacked sufficient anti-money laundering measures to meet the standards required under Swiss financial market law. The regulator found that 80 per cent of the bank's client relationships presented elevated risks.
SANCTIONS VIOLATIONS AND US DOLLAR ACCESS THREAT
Beyond the AML failures, FINMA found that the bank had enabled clients subject to Swiss or international sanctions, particularly Russia-linked clients, to circumvent asset freezes. A day before the liquidation took effect, the US Treasury, which accused MBaer of moving funds for illicit actors linked to Iran and Russia, proposed cutting the bank off from the US financial system under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.
FINMA concluded that MBaer had seriously violated Swiss financial market law and that it had exposed itself and the Swiss financial centre to disproportionately high risks. On that basis FINMA withdrew the bank's licence and ordered it into liquidation; the order took effect on 27 February 2026 after MBaer withdrew its appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.
LIQUIDATION PROCESS
FINMA has appointed liquidators, Daniel Staehelin and Lukas Bopp of Kellerhals Carrard, to oversee the wind-down of the institution's affairs.
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