A Swiss company that sells second hand tickets for concerts in the EU was fined by the Swiss regulator for non-compliance with EU anti-money laundering offences.
The Court of Justice of the EU held that the jurisdiction clause is applicable and the fine should not be cancelled. Switzerland is not a 'Member State' of the EU but it is a signatory to trade agreements in the EU and a member of a special free trade zone with the EU (EEC). The regulations that apply in the EU apply in Switzerland only in cases that the regulations have passed a special adaptation to the EEC trade zone. In this case, because the anti-money-laundering framework in the EU is considered a very strict and significant regulatory framework, on which basis the rest of the regulations are adapted in the trade zone, there is no substantive need to specially implement this regulation. A special emphasis was given on the basis that it is not possible to segregate the jurisdiction on the basis of one regulation, that the rest of the Union citizens are basing their rights on, especially in e-commerce that is considered a cornerstone of the digital activity of the EU citizens and on this basis the fine should not be canceled.