Regulated Signature Certificates for Legal Entities

Here you will find information on the regulated signature certificate for legal entities (public authorities) – Legally valid public authority seal in accordance with ZertES.

General Information

Administrative offices (authorities) can digitally sign official documents using a certificate issued for the office concerned ("regulated authority certificate"), together with a qualified timestamp (ZertES, Art. 2j). Citizens and businesses should be able to check public documents that have been issued and digitally signed by authorities, in order to verify that these documents really are from the authority concerned and that they are unchanged at the time of the check.

• Signature verification

  The documents can be checked free of charge via www.validator.admin.ch.

• Ownership of the private key

  The private key of the qualified certificate is stored on a Swiss Government PKI server, a hardware security module (HSM).

Request

More than one certificate can be issued for the same organisation (authority). The requests may be submitted by the same person at the authority.

• Certificate content

  The owner authority is described in the certificate as a “distinguished name” in accordance with X.509. For regulated authority certificates, no information on the requester is stored outside the Swiss Government PKI. The certificate itself contains the authority's UID and the official name of the authority in the corresponding attributes “O=” and “OI=”.

  The certificate's “distinguished name” is determined according to the following rules:

• Prerequisites

  As a prerequisite for being issued with a regulated authority certificate, the organisation must have a UID entity as defined in Article 3 paragraph 1 letter c of the Federal Act of 18 June 2010 on the Business Identification Number (BINA), version of 1 January 2022.The requester must be an authorised signatory for the UID entity concerned. They must be able to prove such authorisation by means of either a notarised commercial register extract or a legally signed power of attorney (proxy). The requester must be physically present for the issuance of the certificate.

• Procedure

  The forms “Request form for a regulated authority certificate” and “Power of attorney for requesting a class A regulated authority certificate” shall be signed by the requester or person granting the proxy by means of an electronic signature certificate, and submitted to the SG PKI via DWP.
  There is no need for a personal appointment if both the request form and the power of attorney are signed with a qualified certificate.

  • Antrag für die Einbindung eines TLS Web Client Authentications Zertifikats zur Nutzung des Signaturdienstes

    PDF245.08 kB17 March 2025

  • Antragsformular für geregeltes Behördenzertifikat zur Nutzung mit dem Remote Signaturdienst

    PDF611.82 kB2 March 2026

  • Handlungsvollmacht zur Beantragung eines geregelten Behördenzertifikates der Klasse A

    PDF697.77 kB2 March 2026

Usage of the Certificate

• Documents and forms

  • Quick Guide: Einrichten des TSA-Servers der SG-PKI im Adobe Acrobat Reader

    PDF529.36 kB3 February 2026

  • Swiss Government PKI - Benutzervereinbarung und Nutzungsbedingungen für Zertifikate der Klasse A – Geregelte und qualifizierte Zertifikate gemäss ZertES (für juristische und natürliche Personen)

    PDF311.50 kB2 March 2026

• Authorization of additional persons to access the certificate

  • With a server-based authority certificate, the applicant can authorise additional persons by means of a signed email (FOITT service portal), and can also rescind that authorisation.
  • If the server-based seal is used in a specialist application via a TLS connection, the authorisation is granted via the specialist application.

Revocation

• What are reasons for revocation?

  • The smart card has been stolen or cannot be located
  • The smart card is defective
  • Both PINs and PUKs for the smart card have been lost or forgotten
  • Termination of employment relationship
  • Changes in details on the certificate (authority name, email address, etc.)
  • Suspicion that the private key has been compromised (revealed) and someone else could use a service, e.g. sign an email.
  • Reorganisation
  • The current proxy user is not complying with the rules (non-observance of CP/CPS)
  • The LRAO considers that revocation is appropriate for other reasons

• Who can request a revocation?

  • The original requester
  • Certificate owners: authorised signatories as entered in the UID or commercial register
  • Line managers
  • The Swiss Government PKI officer
  • The Swiss Government PKI security officer
  • The Swiss Government PKI LRAO
  • The ITSOO of the office concerned

• How can a revocation be requested?

  To request the revocation of a regulated authority certificate, download the following PDF form. Once you have completed all fields and digitally signed the PDF in Adobe, you can submit the application directly from the form.

  • Revokation von geregelten Behördenzertifikaten der Swiss Government PKI

    PDF456.51 kB16 May 2025

  You can also access the form via a link on the FOITT service portal (BIT-ServicePortal):

  • FOITT service portal (BIT-ServicePortal)