Swiss Watchdog Tells Banks To Get Tough On Money Laundering

In Switzerland, it’s time for banks to get more focused on helping curtail short-circuit money laundering, according to a key executive at FINMA, the financial regulatory agency.

As reported by The New York Times, Chief of FINMA Mark Branson, in an interview with Reuters, said: “What we’ve seen too often in the cases we’ve investigated is plausibility checks by banks that aren’t thorough enough.” Banks thus need to be up to speed and up to date as to where the money that is coming into the coffers is coming from. The remarks were made after the annual FINMA news conference, and NYT noted that Branson stated that banks should especially increase their efforts in the evolving story surrounding the so-called “Panama Papers,” which has focused on the use of offshore companies to hide cash.

The nation itself is among the biggest drawing grounds for offshore wealth deposits. Boston Consulting Group has estimated that as much as $2.5 trillion has resided in the banks there as of recently.

Of course, as the news agencies have stated, many Swiss banks have been tied to various financial scandals (e.g., Petrobras and 1MDB) over the past several years. And yet, countered Branson, Swiss banks do not actually have a larger presence in investigations than might be deemed disproportionate.