Group Urges Tough Swiss Action vs Money Laundering

Swiss prosecutors should enforce laws against money laundering more effectively as the country remains a soft touch for corporate financial corruption, an ethics group said, John Stonestreet reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Roughly every fifth Swiss exporter had made "informal (corrupt) payments abroad," it said, citing research carried out in 2012.

The Swiss branch of Transparency International said there have been just 10 documented convictions for money laundering and related corruption, carried out in the context of companies' business transactions, under laws that came into effect in 2003.

By contrast, roughly every fifth Swiss exporter had made "informal (corrupt) payments abroad," it said, citing research carried out in 2012.

Of the firms convicted and fined, all had business interests abroad, but Transparency Switzerland's criticisms also applied to domestic firms, its head Martin Hilti told Reuters. No bank was ever fined.

Switzerland now routinely exchanges bank account information with over 100 countries, having fought to dispel its old image as a place for criminals to stash illicit gains. But it has faced international pressure to shed light on corporate ownerships, and in October announced plans to create a central registry of legal entities to combat money laundering via shell companies.

Transparency Switzerland, part of a global network with a presence in more than 100 countries, acknowledged that Swiss authorities were dependent on the cooperation of firms suspected of money laundering to bring those same firms to justice.

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