Criminal liability of corporations entered into force in Switzerland in October 2003 although only a small number of prosecutions have been conducted against corporations so far most notably the failed Swiss Post CASE– see below.  However, as evidenced by recent the Coutts affair and public announcements from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in […]

Switzerland’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime is technically robust and has achieved good results, but it would benefit from some improvements to be fully effective. This assessment reviews both the level of effectiveness of Switzerland’s AML/CFT regime as well as its level of technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations.  Read more  Download the full […]

Stricter graft guidelines that Switzerland plans to vote into law will bar companies from deducting bribes and fines from their taxes, but still let them write off illegally gained profits seized by regulators. Switzerland’s federal cabinet approved a new graft bill on Wednesday that would end the tax break for bribes, a reform it decided […]

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has produced a circular (2017/1) containing a consolidation of the supervisory requirements relating to corporate governance, internal control systems and risk management for banks. The circular includes provisions to reflect revised international standards. In addition, FINMA has revised two further circulars (i) operational risks – banks (2008/21) and […]

Roughly 15 Swiss banks are in a “red zone” of lenders particularly exposed to money laundering risks, the head of Swiss banking watchdog FINMA said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday. Swiss federal prosecutors last week said that they have opened criminal proceedings against Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank for alleged failure to prevent suspected […]

Soccer legend played key role in oiling Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid. The Swiss have done what the Germans couldn’t bring themselves to do. They’ve opened a criminal investigation into soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer over suspicions that he committed fraud and laundered money in helping Germany win the rights to host FIFA’s 2006 World Cup. […]

Swiss private bank Falcon has been blocked from taking on new business in Singapore by the local central bank and financial regulator, Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft said on Wednesday, citing information it had obtained. Falcon is one of the banks under investigation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a possible breach of […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) recently announced that it has withdrawn approval from the Singapore branch of an international bank due to serious breaches of anti-money laundering (“AML”) requirements, poor management oversight, and gross misconduct by certain bank staff. http://www.mas.gov.sg/News-and-Publications/Media-Releases/2016/MAS-directs-BSI-Bank-to-shut-down-in-Singapore.aspx MAS also imposed financial penalties on the bank and referred members of staff and […]