Registered address
Registered address in Zurich: what changed in 2026
First things first, so that you can stop searching: we no longer offer a registered address (Domiziladresse) ourselves. What we can give you is an overview of what has applied to a registered address in Zurich since October, how to recognise a reliable provider and when you do not need one at all.
Checklist
How to recognise a reliable provider
Six questions you should ask before signing the contract. They take 10 minutes and may save you from having to move your company.
Is the provider affiliated with an SRO?
Since 1 October 2026, a professional address provider needs to be affiliated with a self-regulatory organisation (SRO). Providers already active before then must apply by 1 December 2026 and, until the decision, may only continue their existing business relationships, so they may not take on new clients. Ask which organisation it is and have the affiliation confirmed. A provider who cannot answer the question is not prepared.
Are you identified at all?
Anyone who sells you an address without a copy of your ID and without asking about beneficial ownership is not meeting their obligations. That seems convenient until the provider has to give up the business and you need a new registered office at short notice.
Is the address accepted by the commercial register?
For a c/o address, the commercial register office (Handelsregisteramt) requires a declaration from the address holder (Art. 117 para. 3 Commercial Register Ordinance). Before the formation, have it confirmed that the provider issues this declaration. A rejection costs time and fees.
What happens to the post?
Receipt, scanning, forwarding, collection: the offers differ greatly. What matters are the deadlines. A payment reminder or an official decision is of little use to you if it sits there for 2 weeks.
How many companies are based there?
Banks, insurers and authorities look at this. An address with hundreds of entries can make opening an account harder and lead to follow-up questions.
What does leaving cost?
If the company stays in the same municipality, registering the new address with the commercial register is enough. If it moves to another municipality, it is a transfer of the registered office with an amendment to the articles of association and a notarial deed. Clarify beforehand how termination works and who bears the costs.
Legal position
What changed on 1 October 2026
Parliament passed the revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA, Geldwäschereigesetz) in September 2025, and it has been in force since 1 October 2026. For registered addresses, it is the biggest change in years.
Address providers fall under the AMLA
With the revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, providers who supply registered addresses on a professional basis count as advisers. Merely providing an address or premises as a domicile or registered office for more than 6 months, without any further service, is already covered, and this applies to operating companies just as much as to pure domiciliary companies (Sitzgesellschaften) (Art. 2 para. 3ter AMLA).
Due diligence and reporting duties
The provider must identify you, establish the beneficial owner, record the subject and purpose of the business relationship and document all of this (Art. 8b AMLA). If there is a well-founded suspicion of money laundering, it must file a report.
Affiliation with an SRO
Anyone offering the service on a professional basis must join a self-regulatory organisation and ensure staff training and internal controls (Art. 8d AMLA). You can verify the affiliation. Ask about it.
Plus the transparency register
On the same date, the Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities came into force. Companies must report their beneficial owners to a non-public federal register.
For you as a client, this means one thing above all: the provider must identify you and establish who the beneficial owners of your company are. A provider who does not do this is not working in compliance with the rules, and you should not build your registered office on that.
Why we no longer offer a registered addressThe service was part of our offering until 2026, mostly as an addition to a formation or an accounting mandate.
With the AMLA revision, this service becomes a regulatory project of its own: affiliation with a self-regulatory organisation, identification and documentation for every client, staff training and internal controls.
For a firm of our size, this effort is out of all proportion to a secondary service. And the alternative, continuing it half-heartedly and hoping that nobody looks, is out of the question for us. Onaccounting AG is licensed as an audit expert; we cannot lower the standards for one service that we uphold for all the others.
Where we can help youAnyone looking for a registered address is usually setting up a company or running a Swiss company from abroad. In both cases, we are the right people to talk to.
- Company formationFrom the legal form and the articles of association to the commercial register entry. You bring the address, we take care of the rest.
- Board mandateIf you live abroad: a Swiss AG or GmbH must be able to be represented by a person resident in Switzerland. In an AG, we take on this role.
- Fiscal representationFor foreign companies liable to Swiss VAT. There, representation is required by law, and it is part of our core business.
- Outsourced accountingBookkeeping, payroll, VAT, annual accounts and tax for your Swiss company, for a fixed monthly fee.
Your team
We go through the question with you
We do not keep a list and we do not refer for commission. What we can do is go through with you in the initial meeting whether you need a registered address at all and which questions you should ask a provider. Often the requirement can also be met in a different way.
Melanie GiangCo-founder
Silvio BörlinCo-founder
EmiliaAccounting & Payroll
OkiAI on the team
HarveyChief Happiness Officer
Kriesbachstrasse 30, 8600 Dübendorf · Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm
Meet the whole teamClient reviews
What our clients say
Genuine Google reviews
4.9 out of 5 from 26 Google reviews, as of 10 October 2026
Reviews in German, as published on Google.
Platinum and implementation partner
bexio’s highest partner level, which comes with ongoing certification. Listed in the official directory of accounting firms.
Platinum partnerListed in bexio’s directory of accounting firmsRAB505484Licensed audit expertIn the register of the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (RAB)Both entries are public. One click is enough to check them.
Process
From the address to the commercial register entry
Three steps. We are happy to go through with you in the initial meeting whether you need a provider at all.
Clarify whether you need a provider
For the commercial register entry, every company needs an address at its registered office where it can be reached. Your own office premises are not required; a c/o address is sufficient if the address holder provides a declaration for it. If you already have premises in Switzerland or live here, you do not need a provider at all.
Check the provider
Before signing the contract, ask whether the provider is affiliated with a self-regulatory organisation, whether it identifies you and what happens to the post. Before the formation, have it confirmed that it issues the declaration for the commercial register.
Set up the company, we take care of the rest
From the legal form and the articles of association to the commercial register entry: you bring the address, we take care of the rest. If you live abroad, we take on the role of the person resident in Switzerland in an AG through a board mandate. For a pure domiciliary company without activities of its own, we decline.
The initial meeting
Let’s spend 30 minutes on your registered address
The initial meeting is free and without obligation. Together we look at where your business loses time today and which of that work we can take on. Afterwards, you know where you stand.
Who would you like to talk to?
30 minutes, without obligation, by video or at our office in Dübendorf. Both of them hold the initial meeting personally.
Prefer email? info@onaccounting.ch
From the blog
Forming a company in Switzerland as a foreign national
3 min read · Company formation, Law
- Owning a company and working in Switzerland yourself are separate questions. Check the requirements for both.
- EU/EFTA nationals must demonstrate their self-employed activity to the competent authority.
- For third-country nationals, the requirements also depend on their existing residence status.
- A GmbH or AG must be able to be represented by a person resident in Switzerland.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer a registered address?
No, we no longer offer a registered address. The reason is the revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which came into force on 1 October 2026: since then, professional address providers count as advisers, with due diligence and reporting duties, affiliation with a self-regulatory organisation and staff training. For a secondary service, this effort is out of all proportion, and offering a service half-heartedly is out of the question for us.
Does a Swiss company necessarily need an address in Switzerland?
Yes. Every company entered in the commercial register needs an address at its registered office where it can be reached, regardless of its legal form (Art. 117 para. 2 Commercial Register Ordinance). Your own office premises are not necessary. A so-called c/o address is sufficient; for this, the commercial register office requires a declaration from the address holder. If you already have premises in Switzerland or live here, you do not need a provider at all.
Does a board mandate replace the business address?
No, these are two different requirements. A Swiss AG or GmbH must be able to be represented by at least one person who is resident in Switzerland. In an AG, we take on this role through a board mandate. A GmbH has no board of directors; there, this person must be a managing director or a registered officer (Direktor). Independently of this, the company needs an address for the commercial register entry. The same provider can offer both, but does not have to.
Does every address provider fall under the Anti-Money Laundering Act?
The act covers anyone who provides addresses or premises as a domicile or registered office on a professional basis for more than 6 months (Art. 2 para. 3ter AMLA). The activity is professional if it is independent and aimed at a lasting income. It is professional in any case, among other things, with gross revenue of more than CHF 50,000 or more than 20 clients per calendar year (Art. 12f Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance).
Can you recommend a provider?
We do not keep a list and we do not refer for commission. What we can do: go through with you in the initial meeting whether you need a registered address at all and which questions you should ask a provider. Often the requirement can also be met in a different way. The most important questions are further up this page.
Do you also set up domiciliary companies?
We set up operating companies, that is, companies that run a business. A holding company that holds operating subsidiaries counts as one for us. For a pure domiciliary company (Sitzgesellschaft) without activities of its own, we decline. The reason lies in the revised Anti-Money Laundering Act: since 1 October 2026, assisting with the formation of non-operating legal entities has been an activity that falls under the act, with its own due diligence and documentation duties. We are not set up for this area.
We live abroad. Can we still set up a Swiss company?
Yes. For a GmbH or AG, however, at least one person with signing authority who is resident in Switzerland must be registered. For an AG, we can take on this role through a board mandate, in companies that run a business, not in pure domiciliary companies. What else to bear in mind is covered in detail in our article on setting up a company in Switzerland as a foreigner: permits, free movement of persons, origin of the capital.
Does a fiscal representative replace the registered address?
No. Foreign companies without a registered office, domicile or permanent establishment in Switzerland generally need a fiscal representative so that they can register for VAT. The representation does not establish a registered office in Switzerland and concerns VAT only. We take on this representation; it is part of our core business.
What does the transparency register have to do with it?
On the same date as the revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 1 October 2026, the Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities came into force. Companies must report their beneficial owners to a non-public federal register. The deadlines and details are in our article on the transparency register, available in German.
What happens in the initial meeting?
30 minutes, free of charge and without obligation. We look at your situation: volume of receipts, software, employees, what you do yourself today, and we tell you what we see. Even if the answer is that we are not the right place for you.