In the first month of 2013 the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office has frozen accounts in connection with the Russian Magnitsky corruption case, a criminal complaint was filed against Malaysia’s Taib clan, and revelations emerged of €22 million (SFr27 million) in an account belonging to Luis Barcenas, a Spanish politician implicated in a corruption scandal.
Critics say the regulators and law enforcement authorities need to get tougher on the banks, but with an estimated 30 per cent of global offshore wealth held in Switzerland, the task of rooting out the bad apples is significant.
Gretta Fenner of the Basel Institute for Governance agrees that part of the problem is Switzerland’s attractiveness as a home for money. The qualities favoured by above-board customers – stability, security, secrecy – are also favoured by corrupt officials and criminals.
All the more reason to enforce the legislation as strictly as possible, she says. “Even if it is not perfect, we’ve got to start enforcing what we have and I don’t think we’re doing that in Switzerland enough,” Fenner told swissinfo.ch.
She stresses that Switzerland is not a unique case and that the same criticism applies to other financial centres, such as the City of London. Full story...
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Critics say the regulators and law enforcement authorities need to get tougher on the banks, but with an estimated 30 per cent of global offshore wealth held in Switzerland, the task of rooting out the bad apples is significant.
Gretta Fenner of the Basel Institute for Governance agrees that part of the problem is Switzerland’s attractiveness as a home for money. The qualities favoured by above-board customers – stability, security, secrecy – are also favoured by corrupt officials and criminals.
All the more reason to enforce the legislation as strictly as possible, she says. “Even if it is not perfect, we’ve got to start enforcing what we have and I don’t think we’re doing that in Switzerland enough,” Fenner told swissinfo.ch.
She stresses that Switzerland is not a unique case and that the same criticism applies to other financial centres, such as the City of London. Full story...
Related posts:
- Malaysian chief minister's money laundering case ensnares UBS...
- How London became the money-laundering capital of the world...
- Super-rich Rabbit Hole: Wealthy stash $21 trillion in offshore havens...
- Davos 2012: From Capitalism to Fascism...
- Swiss view UBS whistleblower Birkenfeld's $104 million reward as 'provocation'
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