Thomas
Nagel
Partner
Dr. iur.
Attorney at law
+41 44 274 16 66
Advoro Zurich Ltd
Zollikerstrasse 226
8008 Zurich
Switzerland
About
Dr. Thomas Nagel is a partner at the Zurich office of Advoro. He is an attorney-at-law and specialist in financial market and corporate law. He advises banks, financial institutions and financial intermediaries on regulatory, corporate and strategic matters. His practice focuses in particular on licensing and regulatory status issues, the implementation of regulatory and compliance requirements and contract drafting. He combines in-depth legal expertise with a strong understanding of the practical challenges faced by businesses in the financial sector.
Thomas Nagel has particular expertise in anti-money laundering law. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and has published numerous articles on anti-money laundering law in professional journals. He has also advised a professional association in the consultation process on the AMLA and represented its interests vis-à-vis the Swiss Federal Administration. This gives him first-hand insight not only into the application of the regulatory framework, but also into its ongoing development. He regularly advises and trains banks, financial intermediaries and other financial institutions on anti-money laundering, compliance and other regulatory matters.
His advisory experience is complemented by first-hand experience within financial institutions and fintech companies. Before joining Advoro in 2023, Thomas Nagel worked for several years as a lawyer in the Banking & Finance team of a large law firm in Zurich. He was a secondee at the legal department of a bank and at a fintech company in Zurich. Previously, he worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Business Law at the University of Bern. Since 2025, he has also served as Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors of a bank in Zurich. His clients therefore benefit from his understanding of regulatory and legal matters not only from the perspective of external counsel, but also from the operational and strategic perspective of a financial institution.
Thomas Nagel is also a regular speaker and lecturer. He has given over a hundred of lectures, presentations and training sessions at conferences, universities and for professional associations, including the Swiss Bar Association, the Swiss Notaries Association, cantonal professional associations and the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich. He also lectures on financial market law at the University of Zurich and the University of Bern. Since 2020, he has been a lecturer in compliance and corporate governance at the Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences (FFHS), and since 2026, a lecturer in compliance at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences for Business Administration (HWZ). His teaching and speaking activities enable him to communicate complex regulatory matters in a clear and practical manner.
Thomas Nagel studied at the University of Bern (Bachelor's degree 2012; Master's degree 2014; Doctorate in Law 2019 with summa cum laude) and completed a study abroad program at the Université de Nantes in 2012. He also holds certificates from the University of St. Gallen in Finance (2022) and Sustainable Finance (2023).
Thomas Nagel works in German and English and is fluent in French. He is registered with the Zurich Bar and authorized to represent clients in court throughout Switzerland.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
Anti-Money Laundering Act and Transparency Register (TJPG): Significance in notarial practice
Presentation for the Aargau Notaries’ Association,
Grand Council Building, Aarau
29 October 2026
The Swiss Transparency Register
Webinar organised by the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) and the Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
Speakers: Markus Moll and Thomas Nagel
29 October 2026
Application of the Anti-Money Laundering Act to Lawyers: Practical Issues
Authors: Thomas Nagel, Philipp Stamm, Martin Kern
in: Anwaltsrevue 9/2026, p. 360 ff.
Presentation: AMLA & Corporate Law: The New Scope and Due Diligence Obligations for Advisors
Corporate Law Group of the Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
Haus zum Rüden, Zurich
24 September 2026
Presentation: Awareness Course on the New Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)
Webinar of the Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
Speakers: Thomas Nagel, Alexia Rambosson and Nicolas Ramelet
22 September 2026
New Transparency Register Effective 1 October 2026: What Businesses Need to Know
Authors: Alexander Eichhorn, Thomas Nagel and Ananda Gasser
in: Advoro Newsletter, 14 September 2026
Authors: Thomas Nagel, Thomas Jutzi
in: Current Issues in Notarial Practice, 21 August 2026
Presentation: New Due Diligence Obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG): Implementation in Notarial Practice
Swiss Association of Notaries (SNV)
Speakers: Thomas Nagel, Thomas Jutzi
Bern, 21 August 2026
Application of the Anti-Money Laundering Act to Legal Advisors
Authors: Thomas Nagel, Martin Kern
in: Anwaltsrevue 3/2026, p. 126 ff.
Webinar: AMLA Revision: What Does It Mean for My Law Firm?
Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Zurich, 31 March 2026
Presentation: Awareness Course on the New Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)
Seminar of the Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
Hotel Walhalla, St. Gallen
Speakers: Thomas Nagel and Martin Kern
St. Gallen, 26 March 2026
Presentation: AMLA Revision: What Does it Mean for My Law Firm?
Lawyers' Forum of the Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
Zurich, 25 March 2026
Interview: AMLA Revision: A Paradigm Shift for Consultants Is on the Horizon
Authors: Thomas Nagel, Martin V. Sampedrano Gonzalez
in: news@weblaw, 5 March 2026
Presentation: AMLA Revision: The Paradigm Shift is Coming for Advisors
Webinar Weblaw
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Zurich, 25 February 2026
New Practice for the Distribution of Gift Cards: FINMA Clarifies AMLA Applicability
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 17 November 2025
Lecture: Revision of the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act
Lecturer: Thomas Nagel
Master Lecture at the University of Bern, 21 October 2025
The Concept of Operating Companies
Authors: Alexander Eichhorn, Thomas Nagel and Ananda Gasser
in: GesKR 3/2025, p. 367 ff.
Price Indications and Reference Prices under the Price Disclosure Ordinance: Pitfalls and Practical Tips
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 16 July 2025
When Banks inquire about Transactions
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 10 July 2025
Commentary on Article 2 para. 1, Article 8, Article 8a, Article 15 and Article 38
in: Online Commentary on the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2024
Webinar – Jusletter Special Collection
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Zurich, 26 February 2025
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 13 Dezember 2024
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Jusletter, 2 December 2024
§ 10 Payments (payment services and payment systems)
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Thomas Müller
in: Crypto Assets, Basel 2024
Presentation: The Register of Beneficial Owners – (too) much effort for a modest benefit
Europe Institute of the University of Zurich, 12. Zurich Conference on Anti-Money Laundering
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Zurich, 1 October2024
Commentary on Art. 11 CISA (units)
Authors: Thomas Nagel, Alexander Eichhorn and Daniel Dedeyan
in: Stämpfli's hand commentary on the Collective Investment Schemes Act, Bern 2024
The reporting obligation under Art. 29 para. 2 FINMASA
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Reto Ferrari-Visca
in: SZW (Swiss Journal of Business Law) 3/2024, p. 299 ff.
Cited in the Federal Supreme Court decision 7B_874/2023, section 3.2
Lecture: Introduction to Financial Market Law – Anti-Money Laundering Law
Lecturer: Thomas Nagel
Master Lecture at the University of Bern, 23 May 2024
Violation of Data Protection Law: These are the consequences
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 2 January 2024
Lecture: Swiss financial market regulation
Lecturer: Thomas Nagel
LL. M. / CAS International Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance Law at the University of Zurich UZH, 16 December 2023
New Swiss Data Protection Law, entering into force on 1 September 2023: What Companies need to know
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Advoro Newsletter, 19 September 2023
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: RRCO (Recht relevant. für Compliance Officers) 6/2023, p. 2 ff.
Buy now pay later (BNPL): Overview of the legal framework in Switzerland
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: RRCO (Recht relevant. für Compliance Officers) 5/2023, p. 5 ff.
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: RRCO (Recht relevant. für Compliance Officers) 3/2023, p. 2 ff.
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: GesKR (Gesellschafts- und Kapitalmarktrecht) 2023, p. 72 ff.
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: iusNet Banking and Capital Markets Law, 23 February 2023
Lecture: Tutorial for first-semester law students at the University of Bern
Speakers: Thomas Nagel and Pascal Zysset
Bern, 1 November 2022
Lecture: Anti-Money Laundering Act: Subordination issues in practice
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Master Lecture ‘Selected Questions on Financial Market Law’ at the University of Bern, 25 October 2022
Materiality of a function in outsourcing by banks
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: RRCO (Recht relevant. für Compliance Officers) 5/2022, p. 8 ff.
Presentation: Further development of the VegüV in the new stock corporation law
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Event on the topic ‘Revision of company law - what now?’, Bern, 20 September 2022
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Michael Nagel
in: Jusletter, 5 September 2022
Interpretation of the new AMLA obligation to verify the identity of the beneficial owner
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: iusNet Banking and Capital Markets Law, 31 March 2022
Identification obligations of banks in business relationships with domiciliary companies
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Klaus Wiesehöfer
in: SJZ (Schweizerische Juristen-Zeitung) 2022, p. 139 ff.
Commentary on Art. 7a (assets of low value/‘triviality clause’)
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Thomas Müller
in: Basel Commentary on the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Basel 2021
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Jusletter, 4 October 2021
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: SJZ (Schweizerische Juristen-Zeitung) 2021, p. 102 ff.
Lecture: Tutorial for first-semester law students at the University of Bern
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Bern, 12 November 2021
Presentation: The Anti-Money Laundering Act: Overview and current developments
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
Walder Wyss Online Breakfast, 4 November 2020
Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and DLT Regulation - legal update
Authors: Thomas Nagel and Thomas Müller
Regular Newsletter 142, September 2020
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: Jusletter, 17 August 2020
Should the safekeeping of assets be subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act in future?
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: GesKR (Gesellschafts- und Kapitalmarktrecht) 2020, p. 113 ff.
The personal and material scope of the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)
Author: Thomas Nagel
Dissertation University of Bern 2019, published in: Swiss Research on Financial Market Law, Volume 132, 2020
Cited in the Federal Administrative Court decisions BVGE 2023 IV/4 (B-2149/2022), section 5.1, and BVGer B-1576/2019, section 9.7.2.
Lecture: The personal and material scope of the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act
Speaker: Thomas Nagel
University of Bern, 12 December 2019
Presentation: Asset managers and investment advisors - When do I fall under the AMLA?
Speakers: Thomas Nagel and Pascal Zysset
Roundtable for asset managers and financial service providers, Bern, 26 February 2019
The territorial scope of application of the Anti-Money Laundering Act
Author: Thomas Nagel and Pascal Zysset
in: GesKR (Gesellschafts- und Kapitalmarktrecht) 2018, p. 140 ff.
Author: Thomas Nagel
in: AJP (Aktuelle Juristische Praxis) 2015, p. 190 ff.
Expertise
• Financial market law, in particular banking law (BankA), Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), Financial Services Act (FinSA) and Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)
• Corporate law and corporate governance
• Independent proxy voting
• Data protection
Other Activities and Functions
• Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors of a bank in Zurich (since 2025, on a mandate basis)
• Lecturer in compliance (anti-money laundering) at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences for Business Administration (HWZ) in Zurich (since 2026)
• Lecturer in compliance and corporate governance at the Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences (FFHS) in Zurich (since 2020)
• Regular speaker and lecturer at conferences, events and universities (i.a. University of Zurich, University of Bern), including numerous presentations for the Swiss Bar Association, the Swiss Notaries Association and cantonal bar associations
• Trainer for financial intermediaries and financial institutions on regulatory and compliance matters
• Member of the Swiss Bar Association (SAV) and the Zurich Bar Association (ZAV) and Member of its Practice Groups Banking Law, Compliance and Corporate Law