The Risk & Compliance Outsourced Expert

BERCLAZ & PARTNERS

Risk & Compliance Outsourcing Firm

Risk & Compliance Outsourcing Function

We provide financial institutions with an independent 2nd-level Compliance & Risk function. Our pro-active experts maintain the Compliance & Risk program developed in-house for Portfolio Managers and Trustees which complies to the legal and regulatory standards in accordance with the expectations of our Swiss regulatory body, FINMA.

Swiss LEGAL

We provide legal advice in Swiss banking and financial sectors, in particular, all necessary procedures related to the establishment of financial companies in Switzerland.

Enforcement FINMA and Complex files

Our core business is to take care of complex cases & restore legal order. We successfully support financial intermediaries with Higher Risk clientele, under FINMA enforcement or special investigation from a self regulatory body. 

    FINMA Authorisation

    We assist asset managers and trustees in the efficient implementation of the new legislations FinIA/ FinSA from scratch until the FINMA authorisation. The project is carried out according to a roadmap drawn up by our experts which is rolled out in Steps:

    • Diagnostic & Strategy ;
    • Business plan & Financial aspects ;
    • FINMA authorisation forms ;
    • Tailormade FINIA documentation ;
    • EHP filing & Support.
    • FINMA autorisations obtained by 26.02.2024:  36
    • Current GFE / trustee files under FINMA review : 19
    • Current GFE / trustee files under OS review : 0

    FATCA and CRS Reporting

    Benefiting from great knowledge and several years of hands-on experience in FATCA, US regulations and CRS requirements, our experts take care of the documentation, registration, disclosure and reporting obligations of corporate trustees and other financial institutions.

      News

      WHERE ARE THE PROCEEDS OF CRIME ?

      Some days ago, I fell on some Belgian comics I used to read as a youngster called “IRS”. The main character is Larry Max, a sort of James Bond super Compliance Officer. By linking finance, flow of funds to organized crime rings, he tracks bad guys throughout the...

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      BELARUS 2020 & Compliance

      A few of you may have seen my recent posts updating on the current situation in Belarus. I was requested, why would I, a compliance guy based in Switzerland post on that. Well, 3 reasons: family, interest in others and believe it or not, we are experiencing something...

      read more

      Mon client médecin est-il un client à risque accru ?

      En juillet 2018 paraissait le Rapport GAFI « Financial Flows from Human Trafficking ». https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/content/images/Human-Trafficking-2018.pdf . Pour celles et ceux qui n’en auraient pas encore pris connaissance, je vous encourage à le...

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      Our Areas of expertise

      AML Know How & Directives

      International Sanctions & Embargoes

      KYC & Transaction reviews

      Tax Compliance FATCA / CRS

      Swiss LEGAL

      Crypto currency & Blockchain

      FinIA & FinSA

      IT & Digitalisation

      Our services

      We assist asset managers and trustees in the efficient implementation of the new legislations FinIA/ FinSA

      The project is carried out according to a roadmap drawn up by our experts which takes place in four phases:

      • Compliance Diagnostic & advisory support;
      • Documentary kits & Repapering milesotones;
      • Establishment of the internal control system;
      • Preparation and submission of the financial intermediary’s file.
      1. Compliance Diagnostic & Advisory support

       The purpose of the diagnosis is to determine the risk propensity of the financial intermediary and review its internal organisation in order to detect breaches of applicable legal, regulatory and statutory requirements. It also draws up the regulatory inventory. The diagnosis also makes it possible to define the best Compliance strategy to adopt within a set budget, according to current or future objectives and challenges, in particular in terms of FinIA, FinSA, Compliance and IT. Unlike an LBA revision or an audit, we have a preventive role. We are specifically looking for potential malfunctions, optimizations to implement or sensitive cases to solve according to best practices.

      1. Documentary kits & Repapering milesotones

      We review your applicable legal documentation and put in place several kits individually adapted to the daily operations of the financial intermediary according to the up-to-date requirements of LEFIN, LSFIN and Compliance, in particular:

      • LEFIN kit: Internal organization regulations, Business continuity, Risk assessment models, Narilo Directive
      • LSFIN kit: Management mandate, Advisory mandate, Execution only mandate, General conditions, Questionnaire Client risk profile and client classification, Request to be treated as a professional client (opting-out), “LSFIN” Directive Best execution / Rule market conduct / conflict of interest management, basic newsletter to clients)
      • AML kit: Ethics, Compliance & AML directives and appendices

      We then assist in the repapering exercise and the training of internal teams on the new measures to be adopted.

      1. Establishment of the internal control system

      We develop and implement recurring and / or general controls

      1. Preparation and submission of the financial intermediary’s file

      We prepare jointly with the financial intermediary its accreditation file, file it in the EHP system and monitor its progress both with the Supervisory Body and with FINMA

        We provide financial institutions with an independent 2nd-level Compliance function

        Our pro-active experts maintain the Compliance program developed in-house which complies to the legal and regulatory requirements of both the Swiss regulatory body FINMA and the Self-Regulatory organisations.

        The scope of the role as well as the frequency of intervention vary according to the needs of the financial intermediary, the organisational strategy in place, the customer risk-rating and the development stage.

        The scope of our expertise:

        • Establishment of the Compliance & Risk Management framework;
        • Compliance & Risk Directives;
        • AML Due diligence duties;
        • KYC, KYT, KYB, KYP
        • Banking documentation;
        • Regulatory watch;
        • Tax Compliance;
        • International Sanctions and Embargoes;
        • Cross-border;
        • Performance and Risk management;
        • Consolidated supervision;
        • Healthchecks;
        • Periodic reportings.

        Note: We also offer powerful IT software for information automation and continuous data monitoring.

         

        Our core business is to take care of complex cases & restore legal order.

        We successfully support financial intermediaries with Higher Risk clientele, under FINMA enforcement or special investigation from a self regulatory organisation.

        In the event of a FINMA enforcement procedure or a recurrence of audit points that do not seem to solve, we support the financial intermediary in re-establishing an adequate organisation and in guaranteeing its flawless AML activity, particularly in the elimination of the shortcomings observed.

        We support foreign financial companies aiming to settle offices in Switzerland

        We provide legal advice in Swiss banking and financial sectors*. We carry out all in particular all necessary legal procedures related to the establishment of financial companies in Switzerland, such as working permits, obtaining the authorisation to exercise a financial activity in Switzerland, account opening support with the correct fit banking partner & the best selection of commercial premises.

        *Except any tax related request. We do not provide any tax advice nor private banking services.

        We assist the Private Banking customers with the banking documentation & Compliance related requests of the bank

        provided introduction by a Swiss regulated Financial Intermediary, notary or lawyer.

        Meet the Founder

        Michael Berclaz

        Founding Partner / CEO / Senior Compliance & Risk officer

        Responsible to Finma for authorised entities

        Sectors: Banking, Wealth management, Portfolio Management, Trustees & Crypto

        Michael, Swiss resident, father of 2, holder of a Master in Swiss Law (MLaws), a diploma is Risk Management & the CAS in Compliance Management, he holds both UK & Swiss citizenship (born 1978). He has more than 20 years experience in the Compliance industry.

        Prior to setting up the company, he held Project Management & Senior Compliance functions to Major Bank Institutions in Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, Portugal and France (Paris) such as Lloyds TSB, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Société Générale & EFG Bank. Aged 32 y.o., he successfully held the challenging position of Group Chief Compliance Officer of a Swiss Private bank with international branches for several years. He then focused on managing Compliance & Risk projects he is passionate about: Organisation, Audit Remediation, Sanctions, AML & Tax.

        He has an excellent reputation in the market; speaks fluently English, French and German. Referrals available on request as well as some on LinkedIn.

        “As entrepreneurs, we use Compliance as part of the business growth strategy bringing a competitive advantage on the acquisition of new opportunities”.

        Let’s schedule a phone call or video conference : Here

         

        The Team

        Volha Sakalova

        Director / COO / Partner

        Volha is a university graduate translator in RU / FR obtained with the Linguistic University of Minsk and is a certified business administration employee. She enjoys a solid professional experience in Accounting, Management, Regulatory Compliance, Legal affairs and Front-office acquired within various financial intermediaries in Switzerland, in particular within a Company & Service provider, a Multi-family office and as compliance officer within a major wealth management company. She now manages the company in its commercial development, structuring and in the optimisation of the work of consultants as well as in its accounting aspects.

        Volha is fluent in English, French and Russian.

         

        Ranjan Bhalla

        Mandate Responsible to FINMA / Senior Risk Manager

        Sectors: Portfolio Management, Global commodity traders & Asset Management (CISA)

        Ranjan is a Swiss resident and holds both Swiss & Canadian citizenship.  After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Brown University in the United States, he returned to Switzerland where he joined the commodities trading industry as a market risk analyst. He has 17 years of risk management experience acquired at leading global commodity trading companies based in Switzerland (Cargill, Koch and Bunge) where he held senior risk positions. He also dealt with compliance and regulatory issues and led a project to assess the impact of new EU & Swiss financial regulations, helping to raise awareness of the new rules within the company and update processes to ensure proper compliance.    

        Ranjan is fluent in English and French and learning Spanish.

        Anne Pouit

        Mandate Responsible to FINMA / Senior Compliance Officer

        Sectors: Banking, Wealth management, Trustees & Crypto

        Anne, Swiss-French national, is responsible, for 20 years, for guaranteeing compliance with laws, regulations, jurisprudence and ethics rules within financial entities, mainly in Switzerland and Luxembourg, also in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and in Uruguay.

        She is an expert in assessing the risks when client onboarding or client profiles reviewing.

        She is knowledgable in Swiss laws and regulations applying to Finance in Switzerland and had the opportunity to learn and/or apply AML approaches in Anglo-Saxon and EMEA jurisdictions.

        With her legal background, she obtained a CAS Compliance Management Certificate from UNIGE and a Compliance diploma from the International Compliance Association (ICA).

        She is now working on more specific trainings relating to international Sanctions and Cryptocurrencies.

        She is an active member of the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialist and of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS).

        Following a 5 years experience in the field of collective investment funds wirth DEXIA-BIL in Luxembourg, she then worked within Compliance department of renowned private Banks in Swizerland: BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, EFG Bank SA… She joints Berclaz & Associés as Senior Compliance officer with the key position as Deputy to the Head of Compliance.

        She speaks fluently French and English

        Joy Savoini

        Mandate Responsible to FINMA / Legal & Senior Compliance Officer, DPO

        Sectors: Wealth Management, Banks and Trustees

        Joy, a Swiss citizen, is a compliance and risk management professional. She holds a Master’s degree in economic and banking law from the University of Geneva and a diploma as a data protection advisor. 

        Throughout her career, Joy Savoini has worked for a number of asset management companies, most recently as Head of Compliance and Legal for a major Geneva-based financial institution.  She joins Berclaz & Associés as Legal and Senior Compliance Officer. 

        With this dual role and a cross-functional vision, she will be responsible for Regulatory monitoring, legal aspects of clientele and in particular overseeing proper governance of the outsourced institutions.

        She is fluent in English, French.

         

        Silvana Antonietti Ruedin

        Mandate Responsible to FINMA / Senior Risk Officer

        Sectors: Banking, Asset Management, Audit

        Silvana, a Swiss citizen born in Argentina, has extensive experience in the banking field with large foreign banks based in Switzerland (Banque du Gothard and BNP Paribas).

        After 10 years of experience in internal audit & inspection at the headquarters of two banks (Lugano and Geneva) as well as in branches and representative offices (Lugano, Geneva, Lausanne, Luxembourg, Monaco, Bahamas, Guernsey, Saô Paulo and Buenos Aires), she continued her career in risk management.

        First of all, in credit risk management (2 years in the Corporate and Investment Banking sector and 5 years in International Private Banking). Then, in accounting, financial and operational risk management for 18 years. In this last position, she contributed, as Manager, to the implementation of the internal control system and the permanent control system (operational and accounting risk) for the subsidiary BNP Paribas Switzerland and BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco.

        She joins Berclaz et Associés as Senior Risk Officer to support clients in the implementation and evolution of their risk management process.

        She is trilingual, Spanish, Italian and French and has good knowledge of English.

         

        Eimear Loparco

        Mandate Responsible to FINMA / Senior Compliance Officer Trust 

        Sectors: Trustees, Wealth Management

         

        Eimear Irish-British national, has been involved in the evolution of the trust and compliance industry in Switzerland for almost 20 years. She has worked in banks, independent trust companies and family offices.

        She is specialised in managing the risks of multi-jurisdictional trust structures for international high net worth families.

        She is knowledgable in Swiss and UK laws.  With her legal background, she also obtained a Distintion in TEP.

        Eimear joins Berclaz & Associés as Senior Compliance Officer dedicating her skills to a strong monitoring over the trustee activity including risk controls in conjonction with the risk departement. 

        She is fluent in English and French.

        Our Network

        brp
        FINAMIC-Logo-fond-blanc
        Performance Watcher
        PBM
        Swiss Mutual Trust
        Investment Navigator
        Obs Law
        Efficience
        We can logo
        Rumya logo
        Polixis

        Contact

        Contact us to discuss about adequate solutions for your needs. 

        We communicate in french, english, german, italian and russian.

        Berclaz & Associés SARL
        Rue du Vieux-Collège 8, 6th floor
        CH – 1204 Geneva
        +41 22 312 10 11

        +41 78 710 32 01

        OUR CORPORATE SOCIAL rESPONSIBILITY

         

        Our Journey led us to discover in 2018 the Shere Khan’s Youth Protection NGO founded by Noëlle Alice Demole. This Swiss non-profit organization addresses an unmet need: the funding of education for Indian homeless children, teenagers and young adults. The NGO helps these individuals achieve financial independence by getting an academic degree or a professional training program. With the help of their local partnership, SUEB Group, the association is mainly focusing on the prevention of the young Indian generation from the dangers of a senseless life in the streets where the vulnerability to human trafficking and other criminal activities exists.

        Currently, Shere Khan’s Youth Protection and its team of 6 are helping a total of 68 students that are able to go to universities in Tamil Nadu pursuing many different programs. Their long-term goal is to be able to help a total of 1’000 individuals if they are able to raise enough funds in the upcoming years.

        Each new hour package signed (as well as each renewal) by our clients enables us to donate a percentage of our income to assist this NGO in it’s long terme goals. We thank you for that. 

        To visit their website go to https://www.sherekhansyouthprotection.com
        Follow them on Instagram @sherekhansyouthprotection