Art. 1 Purpose
With a Unique Business Identification Number (UID), businesses can be clearly identified so that information can be exchanged simply and safely within administrative and statistical processes.
431.03
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
of 18 June 2010 (Status as of 1 September 2023)
The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation,
on the basis of Articles 59 paragraph 4, 61 paragraph 4, 65 paragraph 2, 77 paragraph 2, 80 paragraphs 1 and 2, 95 paragraph 1, 104 paragraph 1, 112 paragraph 1, 113 paragraph 1, 114 paragraph 1, 116 paras 2 and 3, 117 paragraph 1, 118 paragraph 2 letters a and b, 122 paragraph 1 and 130 paragraph 1 of the Federal Constitution1,
and having considered the Dispatch of the Federal Council of 28 October 20092,
decrees:
With a Unique Business Identification Number (UID), businesses can be clearly identified so that information can be exchanged simply and safely within administrative and statistical processes.
This Act establishes:
3 Inserted by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017, in force since 15 Oct. 2017 (AS 2017 5155; BBl 2017 1).
1 In this Act:
2 The Federal Council shall describe the UID entities and the UID services in further detail.
4 Amended by Annex 1 No II 36 of the Data Protection Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).
5 Inserted by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017, in force since 15 Oct. 2017 (AS 2017 5155; BBl 2017 1).
1 The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) shall allocate every UID entity a unique UID free of charge.
2 Each UID is only allocated once.
3 The UID is allocated when the responsible UID service has communicated to the FSO the attributes pursuant to Article 9 paragraph 1 letter a.
1 The UID services have the following obligations:
2 The Federal Council designates the UID services that only need to recognise the UID as an identifier.
3 The UID entities may use their UID in exchanges with each other and with a UID service subject to specific legal regulations.
6 Amended by Annex 1 No II 36 of the Data Protection Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).
1 The FSO maintains the UID register.
2 The UID register contains data concerning the following key data of the UID entities (UID data):
3 The UID register also contains data concerning the attributes required to identify administrative entities.
4 The Federal Council designates the additional data and system data of the UID entities.
7 Inserted by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017, in force since 15 Oct. 2017 (AS 2017 5155; BBl 2017 1).
The FSO may disclose the OASI number to the UID services that are also authorised to use it systematically if this is necessary to identify the person concerned in the register.
8 Inserted by Annex No 3 of the FA of 30 Sept. 2016 (AS 2017 3575; BBl 2015 2615). Amended by Annex No 12 of the FA of 18 Dec. 2020 (Systematic Use of the OASI Number by Authorities), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 758; BBl 2019 7359).
The UID has no legal effect pursuant to the Federal Act of 19 December 20039 on electronic signatures.
9 [AS 2004 5085, 2008 3437 No II 55. AS 2016 4651 Annex No I]. See now: FA of 18 March 2016 (SR 943.03).
1 The FSO shall obtain the UID data from the UID entities:
2 It updates the UID data from the UID entities on a continuing basis and makes updates available to the UID services in a suitable form.
3 It can use the UID data to update the Business and Enterprise Register.
1 The UID services shall disclose to the FSO:
2 UID services pursuant to Article 5 paragraph 2 may communicate this information voluntarily.
3 The data are taken from the commercial register in unchanged form.
4 The Federal Council may designate further UID services whose data may be taken over in unchanged form.
1 The FSO designates the UID services that may report administrative entities for inclusion in the UID register. It allocates the administrative numbers.
2 The administrative numbers and their attributes are not published and are only accessible to the UID services requiring these to fulfil their duties.
3 The Federal Council regulates the allocation and use of the administrative numbers and designates the attributes required to identify the administrative entities.
11 Inserted by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017, in force since 15 Oct. 2017 (AS 2017 5155; BBl 2017 1).
1 The FSO allocates every UID entity an LEI upon their request.
2 UID entities that manage legal entities such as funds or subsidiaries may request an LEI for each individual legal entity from the FSO.
The FSO discloses to the GLEIF the data required for registration in the GLEIF register.
1 The allocation and the renewal of the LEI are subject to charge.
2 The FSO provides its services on the basis of cost accounting; prices must cover costs.
3 The FSO makes its fees known.
1 The FSO makes data relating to UID entity key data available to the public on the internet. It restricts the consultation possibilities to requests concerning individual UID entities.
2 The Federal Council may make the UID accessible to the public for batch requests without further attributes. It regulates the terms of the request.
3 Data relating to the key data of a UID entity are only published with its consent unless another federal law requires publication. Until the COVID-19 Financial Guarantees Act of 18 December 202012 ceases to apply, the FSO shall publish the data on the key data of all UID entities on the internet without their consent.13
4 Data relating to the additional data may only be made accessible to the UID services.
5 Data relating to the system data are only accessible to the FSO.
6 The OASI number14 is not public.15
13 Second sentence inserted by Art. 28 No 1 of the COVID-19 Financial Guarantees Act of 18 Dec. 2020, in force from 19 Dec. 2020 to 31 Dec. 2032 (AS 2020 5831; BBl 2020 8477 8819).
14 Term in accordance with Annex No 12 of the FA of 18 Dec. 2020 (Systematic Use of the OASI Number by Authorities), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 758; BBl 2019 7359).
15 Inserted by Annex No 3 of the FA of 30 Sept. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2017 3575; BBl 2015 2615).
1 If a UID entity has ended its economic activity, the FSO shall mark this entity in the UID register as deleted unless another federal law prohibits its deletion.
2 UID data marked as deleted shall still be published on the internet for a maximum of ten years.
1 The use of the UID by a third party is only permitted if the UID is published in the UID register or the UID entity concerned has given its consent.
2 The UID services are responsible for data protection and data security in the maintenance and usage of the UID data.
3 The FSO takes the necessary technical and organisational measures to ensure the protection and security of data in the maintenance and usage of the UID register.
The Federal Council shall enact the implementing provisions.
The cantons enact the implementing provisions necessary for execution. They shall inform the Federal Department of Home Affairs of these.
The amendment to the previous legislation is regulated in the annex.
1 The UID services are bound to use the UID within five years of the enactment of this law pursuant to Article 5 paragraph 1 or 2 and to report the UID data to the FSO pursuant to Article 9 paragraph 1.
2 The Federal Council designates the UID services that already need to fulfil their duties pursuant to paragraph 1 within three years of the enactment of this law.
3 Five years following the enactment of this law at the latest, the UID shall replace all other identification numbers previously used for UID entities in communication between UID services and UID entities. In exceptional cases, the Federal Council may extend the deadlines.
4 The existing commercial register numbers and VAT numbers replaced by the UID are managed in the UID register as key data for at least five years following their replacement.
Each canton designates a service that acts as a coordination service vis-à-vis the FSO to finalise the introduction of the UID.
1 The commercial register number of all legal entities is modified officially in the trade register directly. The modification does not need to be registered in the commercial register.
2 The modification of the number shall be exclusively published in electronic form in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. The new number shall take effect with this publication.
3 If a new number is allocated to a legal entity and the latter is mentioned with its number in any form in entries of other legal entities, these entries must be officially amended during the next mutation at the latest.
4 The Federal Council regulates the terms of the modification.
(Art. 16)
The federal laws below are modified as follows:
...17
17 The amendments may be consulted under AS 2010 4989.