Berliner Boersenzeitung - 'Suisse Secrets' puts Swiss banking back in spotlight

EUR -
AED 4.217905
AFN 82.378977
ALL 98.700849
AMD 448.003306
ANG 2.069647
AOA 1047.288649
ARS 1248.314225
AUD 1.796307
AWG 2.067018
AZN 1.951601
BAM 1.954827
BBD 2.318445
BDT 139.520521
BGN 1.958041
BHD 0.432792
BIF 3414.399695
BMD 1.148343
BND 1.501574
BOB 7.934634
BRL 6.605613
BSD 1.148328
BTN 97.767354
BWP 15.687325
BYN 3.75483
BYR 22507.525687
BZD 2.306551
CAD 1.587722
CDF 3303.78374
CHF 0.934114
CLF 0.028621
CLP 1097.926998
CNY 8.384729
CNH 8.396702
COP 4919.15754
CRC 577.31251
CUC 1.148343
CUP 30.431093
CVE 110.210117
CZK 25.094766
DJF 204.467496
DKK 7.464943
DOP 68.595841
DZD 151.579011
EGP 58.577739
ERN 17.225147
ETB 153.201904
FJD 2.586415
FKP 0.858161
GBP 0.858099
GEL 3.152207
GGP 0.858161
GHS 17.739081
GIP 0.858161
GMD 82.104593
GNF 9942.049051
GTQ 8.845595
GYD 240.887457
HKD 8.908438
HNL 29.768176
HRK 7.537035
HTG 150.195206
HUF 408.456424
IDR 19354.806993
ILS 4.248835
IMP 0.858161
INR 97.771539
IQD 1504.250912
IRR 48373.955161
ISK 144.932458
JEP 0.858161
JMD 181.999368
JOD 0.81452
JPY 161.624714
KES 148.997347
KGS 99.762282
KHR 4597.470334
KMF 497.784482
KPW 1033.578085
KRW 1636.004234
KWD 0.35114
KYD 0.956873
KZT 595.523441
LAK 24795.141051
LBP 102880.392133
LKR 344.368511
LRD 229.643643
LSL 21.404841
LTL 3.390759
LVL 0.694621
LYD 6.240892
MAD 10.584129
MDL 19.64139
MGA 5105.146539
MKD 61.605715
MMK 2410.995549
MNT 4065.051789
MOP 9.174531
MRU 45.494345
MUR 51.112807
MVR 17.685689
MWK 1991.125797
MXN 22.530538
MYR 5.042949
MZN 73.384842
NAD 21.404841
NGN 1841.77006
NIO 42.258956
NOK 11.859221
NPR 156.437097
NZD 1.914053
OMR 0.44214
PAB 1.148158
PEN 4.255781
PGK 4.750634
PHP 64.866444
PKR 322.32169
PLN 4.288086
PYG 9192.422351
QAR 4.185915
RON 4.97841
RSD 117.181646
RUB 93.706077
RWF 1654.376153
SAR 4.307443
SBD 9.561983
SCR 16.325798
SDG 689.579445
SEK 10.89157
SGD 1.502974
SHP 0.902417
SLE 26.153497
SLL 24080.16298
SOS 656.273189
SRD 42.326786
STD 23768.384653
SVC 10.046997
SYP 14930.701248
SZL 21.388349
THB 38.269113
TJS 12.22921
TMT 4.019201
TND 3.400007
TOP 2.689532
TRY 43.934571
TTD 7.799116
TWD 37.33493
TZS 3083.301363
UAH 47.75322
UGX 4202.907033
USD 1.148343
UYU 48.485855
UZS 14823.618124
VES 92.853454
VND 29752.422603
VUV 138.237485
WST 3.200783
XAF 655.596271
XAG 0.03487
XAU 0.000335
XCD 3.103455
XDR 0.815277
XOF 655.630509
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.631006
ZAR 21.362932
ZMK 10336.467988
ZMW 32.69601
ZWL 369.766025
  • RBGPF

    0.1400

    63.59

    +0.22%

  • RYCEF

    0.3100

    9.6

    +3.23%

  • CMSC

    0.1900

    21.9

    +0.87%

  • GSK

    0.3650

    36.815

    +0.99%

  • BTI

    0.2650

    42.815

    +0.62%

  • SCS

    0.1350

    9.555

    +1.41%

  • NGG

    1.1400

    74.04

    +1.54%

  • VOD

    0.3560

    9.586

    +3.71%

  • BCC

    1.7450

    92.545

    +1.89%

  • RELX

    0.6850

    52.755

    +1.3%

  • JRI

    0.3700

    12.5

    +2.96%

  • AZN

    1.2900

    68.19

    +1.89%

  • BCE

    0.0250

    22.405

    +0.11%

  • CMSD

    0.2000

    22.02

    +0.91%

  • BP

    1.0250

    29.105

    +3.52%

  • RIO

    1.2900

    59.76

    +2.16%

'Suisse Secrets' puts Swiss banking back in spotlight
'Suisse Secrets' puts Swiss banking back in spotlight

'Suisse Secrets' puts Swiss banking back in spotlight

The "Suisse Secrets" data leak claiming to reveal how Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty money has renewed pressure on Switzerland's financial sector, which has spent years trying to clean up its image.

Text size:

Switzerland's second largest bank was rocked Sunday by a vast investigation by dozens of media organisations into leaked data they said showed Credit Suisse held more than $8 billion in accounts of criminals, dictators and rights abusers.

The bank flatly rejected the "allegations and insinuations" in the investigation, coordinated by the non-profit journalism group the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

It stressed in a statement that many of the issues raised in the probe were historical, some dating back more than 70 years, and that 90 percent of the accounts in question had been closed.

The allegations, it said, "appear to be a concerted effort to discredit not only the bank but the Swiss financial marketplace as a whole."

The investigation was only the latest blow to the scandal-plagued bank, which was rocked last year by the implosions of financial firms Greensill and Archegos.

Last month saw its chairman resign for having breached Covid quarantine rules.

But it could also hit Switzerland's powerful financial sector as a whole, which for years has strived to improve its image on the international stage.

- Switzerland 'high risk'? -

Following the Suisse Secrets investigation, the European People's Party (EPP) -- the largest political group in the European Parliament -- said the findings "point to massive shortcomings of Swiss banks when it comes to the prevention of money laundering.

"When the list of high-risk third countries in the area of money laundering is up for the revision the next time, the European Commission needs to consider adding Switzerland to that list," Markus Ferber, the EPP group's spokesman in the EU parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee, said in a statement.

Switzerland buckled to international pressure nearly a decade ago to begin weaning its powerful financial sector off the banking secrecy laws that had made it so attractive to the ultra wealthy around the world.

Switzerland signed a deal with the United States in 2014 and another with the European Union a year later on exchanging bank data, making it easier to uncover ill-begotten fortunes and crack down on tax cheats.

"Efforts in the battle against money laundering have been continuously boosted and strengthened in recent years," the Swiss Bankers Association told AFP in an email.

"Dubious money is not of interest to the Swiss financial sector, which sees its reputation and integrity as key."

- 'Judicial risk' -

While acknowledging the role banking secrecy once played in creating the Swiss banking powerhouse, Swiss daily NZZ stressed that a number of the cases revealed by Suisse Secrets "would no longer be possible" under today's legislation.

A report published last October by the Swiss finance ministry found that banks had reported four times more suspected cases of money laundering to authorities between 2015 and 2019 than during the preceding decade.

Its authors suggested that banks were keeping a far closer eye on their clients and were quicker to report irregularities, after having witnessed the fallout from large-scale financial data leaks such as the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers.

But while Switzerland's secrecy laws have largely been dismantled for the banks, they have been tightened for the media, making it an offence to reveal leaked banking information.

Experts say the laws effectively silence insiders or journalists who may want to expose wrongdoing within a Swiss bank.

So while 48 media companies from around the world participated in the Suisse Secrets investigation, no Swiss news media took part due to the risk of criminal prosecution.

"The judicial risk is simply too big," acknowledged the Tamedia media group, which has taken part in previous international data leak investigations.

(G.Gruner--BBZ)