Published on 1 February 2026

Freezing of assets

In special situations, e.g. in the event of the in the event of a loss of power, the Federal Council can, on the basis of the FIAA, take measures to prevent the withdrawal of any illicitly acquired assets that have entered the Swiss financial centre.

Since 1 July 2016, ordinances implementing the preventive freezing of assets of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and their entourage are based on the Federal Act on the Freezing and the Restitution of Illicit Assets held by Foreign Politically Exposed Persons (Foreign Illicit Assets Act, FIAA).

With the freezing of assets, the Federal Council provides support to the judicial authorities of the states concerned in order to enable them to communicate their request for mutual legal assistance in the framework of their criminal proceedings to Switzerland. It is in the responsibility of the relevant judicial authorities of the country in question to initiate the necessary criminal proceedings and to demonstrate the illicit origin of the frozen assets.

Following violence and unrest, as well as the fall of incumbent rulers, the Federal Council took measures to freeze the assets of former presidents Ben Ali (Tunisia-Ordinance), Mubarak (Egypt-Ordinance) and Yanukovych (Ukraine-Ordinance) as well as of persons from their entourage.

The Ordinance on the freezing of assets in connection with Ukraine expired at midnight on 27 February 2023 following the decision of the Federal Council of 15 February 2023 to launch administrative proceedings to confiscate assets frozen in Switzerland following the Ukrainian revolution in February 2014. The confiscation proceedings in Switzerland will apply to all the assets liable to confiscation – in total over CHF 130 million.

Press releases, 15.02.2023

The asset freeze ordinance relating to Tunisia expired on January 18, 2021, as it reached its statutory maximum duration of ten years.

In Egypt, several acquittals and reconciliation agreements contributed to the decision of the Egyptian judiciary to drop criminal proceedings in the most prominent cases with possible links to assets frozen in Switzerland. For this reason and in the absence of tangible results at the end of August 2017, the Swiss judicial authorities closed the mutual legal assistance procedures on cases with potential links to assets frozen in Switzerland. Therefore, the freeze on the Egyptian assets on the basis of the FIAA has no further purpose as defined by law and jurisprudence and the Federal Council lifted the freeze at its meeting on 20 December 2017.

In the case of Libya, the Federal Council ordered a precautionary freeze of assets on 21 February 2011. After the UN and the EU also adopted sanctions against Libya, this freeze imposed by the Federal Council was incorporated at the end of March 2011 into the sanctions regime, based on the Embargo Act (EmbA).

In the case of Syria, the EU sanctions were also mirrored. In both instances, Switzerland acts within the framework of the sanctions measures adopted by the international community.

Following the fall of the Assad government, on 7 March 2025 the Federal Council decided to impose an additional freeze on the assets of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his entourage, based on the Federal Act on the Freezing and Restitution of Illicit Assets (FRAA).
The measure aims to ensure that, regardless of developments in the sanctions regime, no funds belonging to the former Assad government can leave Switzerland before being subject to judicial review of their legality.
Should future criminal or mutual legal assistance proceedings establish that the funds are of illicit origin, Switzerland will seek to return them for the benefit of the Syrian population.

Contact

Section Asset Recovery
FDFA, Directorate of International Law DIL
Kochergasse 10
3003 Bern