Switzerland harmonizes the 2026 UN sanctions ordinances (cross-border guide)

Context

In brief

• Federal Council decides on 25 September 2026
• Four harmonized ordinances on financial measures
• Iranian exemption extended to international organizations

Key facts

• Date → 25 September 2026
• Previous action → 13 August 2025
• Basis → UN sanctions
• Ordinances → North Korea, Iran, ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaeda and Taliban
• Exemption → certain transactions of international organizations

On 25 September 2026, in Bern, the Federal Council decided to standardize and clarify the financial provisions contained in four ordinances implementing UN sanctions relating to terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This is the core of the press release published on the same date.

Four ordinances, one coordinated action

The texts concerned relate to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, persons, groups, companies and entities linked to the organizations ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda, as well as persons and groups linked to the Taliban. The four ordinances implement, in particular, the sanctions of the United Nations Security Council on terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Federal Council explains that the amendments correspond to the clarifications and harmonizations made on 13 August 2025 in the respective ordinances. Those amendments were based on European Union sanctions. With the legislative act of 25 September 2026, attention is now focused on financial measures based on resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The press release therefore presents the new action as a targeted harmonization of the financial provisions, with an explicit reference to the UN sanctions framework.

The exemption for the ordinance on Iran

There is also a specific provision for the ordinance establishing measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran. From now on, international organizations will benefit from an exemption from notification and authorization obligations for certain transactions. The exemptions from the same obligations for transfers of assets provided for by the ordinance have been extended to these organizations.

The source speaks of certain transactions and does not formulate the exemption as referring indiscriminately to all operations connected with Iran. The publication also includes the PDF entitled Ordinance concerning the amendment of ordinances on sanctions in relation to proliferation and terrorist financing. The topic should be kept distinct from the information on conti bancari in Svizzera: here the document concerns the financial rules governing sanctions.

Operational details

What changes operationally

For those who live or work in Switzerland, the amendment should be read as a scope rule. The press release focuses the intervention on the wording of the financial provisions contained in the four ordinances and on the precise scope of the Iranian exemptions. The practical point is to understand which text applies and which transaction is being examined.

The distinction guiding the review

The first element is the basis of the measure. The clarifications of 13 August 2025 were linked to European Union sanctions; the act of 25 September 2026 emphasizes financial measures based on resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. These are two references that must be kept distinct when reading the press release: the latter is what the Federal Council identifies as the focus of the new legislative act.

The second element concerns the relationship between the entity and the transaction. For an international organization, the matter cannot be resolved by merely belonging to the category: the transaction must be linked to the Ordinance on Iran and to the specific transactions for which the exemption is provided. The same extension is not described for the other three ordinances. This is the practical boundary that prevents automatically transferring the Iranian exemption to every financial measure concerning sanctions.

For anyone consulting a dichiarazione delle imposte, the connection is purely editorial: the press release does not address ordinary taxation, but notification and authorization obligations within sanctions ordinances. The correct reading starts with the subject matter and the applicable text, not with a comparison to different tax procedures.

Useful tools to protect your net income

To reduce FX leakage, compare CHF-EUR exchange options and banks for cross-border workers.

Key points

How to check a transaction

The amendment can be translated into a sequence of documentary checks, without replacing the titles of the ordinances with a generic category of sanctions. The objective is to keep the applicable text, the basis of the measure and any exemption separate.

Five steps

1. Identify the relevant ordinance. Verify whether the reference is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, persons, groups, undertakings and entities linked to the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda organizations, or persons and groups linked to the Taliban.

2. Classify the basis of the financial provision. The communication distinguishes the clarifications and harmonizations of 13 August 2025, based on European Union sanctions, from the focus now placed on measures based on resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

3. If the ordinance is the one on Iran, identify the subject involved. The exemption indicated by the Federal Council extends to international organizations; this element must be considered together with the type of transaction.

4. Check the obligation concerned. The verification must concern precisely the notification, authorization or transfer of assets, because the communication links the exemption to certain transactions and to the exemptions provided for by the ordinance.

5. Compare the result with the published text. The SECO page reports the PDF entitled Ordinance concerning the amendment of ordinances on sanctions in relation to proliferation and terrorist financing. It is the reference to use to avoid confusing the harmonization of provisions with an unlimited exemption.

This sequence is also useful when the question comes from an organization that has to examine a transaction connected to Iran: first the text is identified, then the category of the subject is verified, and finally the operation and obligation are checked. If one of these steps remains unclear, it is not possible to derive from the communication alone a broader exemption than the one indicated.

For the personal framework, use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: seco.admin.ch