Rise in SARs Straining Switzerland’s Anti-Money Laundering Office

Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) says it is hitting capacity limits as banks and other firms flood the agency with record numbers of suspicious activity reports, according to SWI swissinfo.ch.

MROS chief Anton Brönnimann told the news outlet that the office expects a 40% jump in reports in 2025, from about 15,000 in 2024 to roughly 21,000 this year. “We’ve seen exponential growth for ten years,” he said in the report.

Brönnimann attributed the surge to greater industry awareness, tighter pressure from regulators and prosecutors, and a series of high-profile money-laundering scandals that ended in convictions.

“Banks want to avoid any risk,” he said, noting that technology has also lowered the barrier to filing: “Today, banks use robots and automated tools to detect irregularities and can file reports at the push of a button. They’d rather report one case too many than one too few.”

With around 55 employees, MROS “has reached [its] personnel limits,” Brönnimann warned. The agency has shifted to a risk-based approach, prioritizing terrorism financing, organized crime, and serious financial offenses. The trade-off: some cases are reviewed less thoroughly, and others may slip through.

“The risk of overlooking money-laundering cases is rising,” he told SWI swissinfo.ch. To “do the job properly,” staffing would need to double to about 110, according to Brönnimann.

MROS is leaning on automation and artificial intelligence to triage and analyze filings.

But “the growth is exponential,” Brönnimann said. “Without more people, the risk of missing important cases continues to grow.”