Swiss Federal Audit Office

a) Campaigns:

• People and political organisations whose campaign expenditure for a National Council election exceeds CHF 50,000.
• People and political organisations whose campaign expenditure for a successful Council of States election exceeds CHF 50,000. Only campaigns of State Councillors who are elected are subject to the reporting requirement.
• People and political organisations whose campaign expenditure for a federal vote exceeds CHF 50,000.

b) Party funding

• Political parties represented in Parliament and non-party members of parliament (party sections at cantonal and communal level are not affected as a rule).

a) Campaigns for National Council elections and federal votes

• Up to 45 days before the election/vote:
  1. Budgeted receipts and, in particular, all benefits (monetary and non-monetary) exceeding CHF 15,000
  2. Which candidates or which vote outcome is to be supported with the expenditure.
• 45 days before the election/vote, up to the day of the election or vote:
  1. Benefits exceeding CHF 15,000 must be reported immediately.
• Up to 60 days after the election/vote:
  1. Final statement of receipts (broken down into monetary/non-monetary benefits, receipts from events, receipts from the sale of goods and services, and own funds)
  2. In particular, all benefits exceeding CHF 15,000 (monetary and non-monetary)
  3. Which candidates or which vote outcome were supported with the expenditure.

b) Campaigns for Council of States elections (only if successfully elected)

• Up to 30 days after taking up office:
  1. Final statement of receipts (broken down into monetary/non-monetary benefits, receipts from events, receipts from the sale of goods and services, and own funds)
  2. In particular, all benefits exceeding CHF 15,000 (monetary and non-monetary)
  3. Anonymous benefits (regardless of the amount)
  4. Benefits from abroad (regardless of the amount)
  5. Which candidates were supported with the expenditure.

c) Party funding (only for parties represented in Parliament)

• The parties report their funding for each calendar year. They must report the data by 30 June of the subsequent year, at the latest.
• They must report total receipts and the breakdown of monetary/non-monetary benefits, receipts from events, receipts from the sale of goods and services, and especially
  
  1. Receipts from member contributions
  2. Receipts from federal mandate contributions (shown individually)
• Specifically, all benefits exceeding CHF 15,000 (monetary and non-monetary).

d) Non-party members of parliament

• Non-party members of parliament must report their economic benefits by 30 June of the subsequent year.
• In particular, all benefits exceeding CHF 15,000 (monetary and non-monetary)

To gain access to the electronic reporting register, politicians must register in advance: registration application.

For security reasons, the registration form is sent to the politicians by post once their application has been checked. Only then is it possible to access the register electronically. For campaign purposes, politicians can assign user access rights to the electronic reporting register to third parties (registration form). The users are informed via email of the access to the electronic reporting register. A user manual is available for the electronic reporting register.

Non-compliance with the rules on transparency in political funding can be reported to the SFAO via its whistleblowing platform. A justified suspicion is sufficient for reporting.