What is SECO?
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is a federal authority responsible for implementing economic sanctions in Switzerland.
What is the SECO sanctions list?
The term refers to the sanctions data published by SECO on individuals, companies, organisations and other entities.
Which sanctions can apply?
Depending on the regime, asset freezes, bans on payments and on making funds available, and restrictions on trade or services may apply.
Why does SECO matter?
For Swiss companies, SECO is the central national source for screening customers, suppliers and business partners.
Who should be screened, and when?
Besides companies, board members, managing directors, beneficial owners and controlling persons can be relevant. Sensible points in time are onboarding, changes of structure and periodic reviews. A general overview of the process and its documentation is provided in the article What Is Sanctions Screening?
Hits and false positives
A hit is only a possible match. Date of birth, nationality, address, function and alias names must be compared.
Is SECO enough on its own?
For international relationships, OFAC, UK and UN may also be relevant. For business relationships with an EU connection, the EU sanctions list can also play a role; that article explains how it differs from the SECO list. For the other lists see OFAC, UK and UN.
Documentation
Date, search term, sources, result and the basis for the decision should be recorded in a traceable way.
Conclusion
SECO is the most important national sanctions source for Swiss companies. A hit always requires an assessment by a qualified person.