{"id":205842,"date":"2022-02-28T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=205842"},"modified":"2022-02-28T05:14:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T05:14:28","slug":"switzerland-at-risk-of-eu-blacklist-after-credit-suisse-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/02\/switzerland-at-risk-of-eu-blacklist-after-credit-suisse-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"Switzerland at Risk of EU Blacklist after Credit Suisse Leak"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dcr-zjgnrw\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\">\n<div class=\" dcr-1s0xg60\">\n<blockquote><p><em>Apparent due diligence failures by Swiss bank prompts centre-right calls for EU to review relationship with Switzerland.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2022\/feb\/20\/credit-suisse-secrets-leak-unmasks-criminals-fraudsters-corrupt-politicians\"  data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2022\/feb\/20\/suisse-secrets-leak-financial-crime-public-interest\"  data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">What is the Suisse secrets leak and why are we publishing it?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_205845\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/switzerland-credit-suisse-capitalism-corruption.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-205845\" class=\"wp-image-205845\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/switzerland-credit-suisse-capitalism-corruption.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/switzerland-credit-suisse-capitalism-corruption.webp 1020w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/switzerland-credit-suisse-capitalism-corruption-300x180.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/switzerland-credit-suisse-capitalism-corruption-768x461.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-205845\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A move to the blacklist would mean Switzerland would face the kind of enhanced due diligence applied to transactions linked to rogue nations including North Korea. Composite: Guardian<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>21 Feb 2022 &#8211; <\/em>The fallout from a huge leak of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/creditsuisse\"  data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Credit Suisse<\/a> banking data threatened to damage Switzerland\u2019s entire financial sector today after the European parliament\u2019s main political grouping raised the prospect of adding the country to a money-laundering blacklist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The European People\u2019s party (EPP), the largest political grouping of the European parliament, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eppgroup.eu\/newsroom\/news\/evaluating-switzerland-as-high-risk-money-laundering-country\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">called<\/a> for the EU to review its relationship with Switzerland and consider whether it should be added to its list of countries associated with a high risk of financial crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Experts said that such a move would be a disaster for Switzerland\u2019s financial sector, which would face the kind of enhanced due diligence applied to transactions linked to rogue nations including Iran, Myanmar, Syria and North Korea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">\u201cWhen Swiss banks fail to apply international anti-money-laundering standards properly, Switzerland itself becomes a high-risk jurisdiction,\u201d said Markus Ferber, the coordinator on economic affairs for the EPP, which represents Europe\u2019s centre-right political parties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">\u201cWhen the list of high-risk third countries in the area of money laundering is up for revision the next time, the European Commission needs to consider adding Switzerland to that list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The EPP released the proposal after media outlets including the Guardian, S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and Le Monde revealed how a massive leak of Credit Suisse data had uncovered apparently widespread failures of due diligence by the bank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The investigation, called Suisse secrets, identified clients of the Swiss bank who had been involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">\u201cBank privacy laws must not become a pretext to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion. The Suisse secrets findings point to massive shortcomings of Swiss banks when it comes to the prevention of money laundering,\u201d Ferber said. \u201cApparently, Credit Suisse has a policy of looking the other way instead of asking difficult questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">He added that the close ties between EU and Swiss banks meant that anti-money-laundering deficiencies in Switzerland\u2019s banking industry \u201calso pose a problem for the European financial sector\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Credit Suisse said <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2022\/feb\/20\/credit-suisse-responds-suisse-secrets-disclosures-statement-switzerland\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">in a statement<\/a> it \u201cstrongly rejects the allegations and inferences about the bank\u2019s purported business practices\u201d, arguing that the matters uncovered by reporters were largely historical and based on \u201cselective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank\u2019s business conduct\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Its lawyers told the Guardian any past individual failings by the bank did not reflect its current business policies, practices or culture. The bank has since announced it has set up an internal taskforce to investigate the leak. \u201cWe have robust data protection and data leakage prevention controls in place to protect our clients,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Switzerland\u2019s government declined to comment on the EPP statement, but said the country meets international standards around exchange of tax information, money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The country\u2019s addition to the EU high-risk third countries list would mean regulated professions, such as bankers, lawyers and accountants, would be required to conduct enhanced due diligence on any transaction or commercial relationship with a person or company in the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Tom Keatinge, the director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the defence thinktank RUSI, said that being added to the EU list could have a significant and far-reaching impact on Switzerland\u2019s banks, as well as its broader financial sector. \u201cThere is the potential for considerable collateral damage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The Credit Suisse data was leaked to S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source who complained about \u201cimmoral\u201d Swiss banking secrecy laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">In Switzerland, politicians and media organisations reacted angrily to the discovery that Swiss investigative journalists had been prevented from participating in the Suisse secrets investigation because of the country\u2019s notorious banking secrecy law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Swiss law has for decades criminalised the disclosure of banking information by financial professionals. However, in recent years it was expanded to cover outsiders receiving banking data, potentially including investigative journalists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Amid international controversy, Andrea Caroni, a Swiss politician who in 2015 advocated expanding article 47, the infamous section of a 1934 banking law that introduced extreme secrecy regulations, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tagesanzeiger.ch\/moeglicherweise-ist-der-regler-nicht-perfekt-eingestellt-465206215057]\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">accepted<\/a> on Monday that \u201cmaybe the rules are not set perfectly\u201d and suggested he would be open to considering a review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Samira Marti, a national councillor for the Swiss Social Democratic party, said the group <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamiraMarti\/status\/1495457589009731589\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">would submit a proposal<\/a> to combat article 47\u2019s \u201ccensorship\u201d in the spring session of the Swiss parliament, and called on the country\u2019s centrist party, Die Mitte, and the Green Liberal party to support them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">The Green Liberals said they would back Marti\u2019s call for action. \u201cJournalism plays an essential role in uncovering illegal practices,\u201d said Julie Cantalou, a co-secretary general of the party. \u201cWe are therefore supportive towards the idea to reform article 47, and look forward to working with Samira Marti on this important matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Meanwhile, Switzerland\u2019s Green party <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gruene.ch\/medienmitteilungen\/suisse-secrets-gruene-fordern-den-schutz-der-medienfreiheit-und-die-verstaerkung-der-korruptionsbekaempfung\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">announced<\/a> that it had tabled a legislative proposal for immediate reform of article 47.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">\u201cThe Suisse secrets show once again that Swiss banks continue to do business with dictators, autocrats and criminals,\u201d the party said in a statement. \u201cWith a proposal submitted today, the Greens are now campaigning for an immediate revision of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/banking\"  data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Banking<\/a> Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">In what could be the first step towards a formal investigation into the Suisse secrets disclosures, Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, confirmed this morning that it was \u201cin contact\u201d with Credit Suisse concerning the investigation, but refused to be drawn on the details of its conversations with the bank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">One Swiss commentator described the timing of the leak as \u201ccatastrophic\u201d for Credit Suisse, which last year suffered a series of rolling scandals that battered its share price.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Samuel Gerber, the deputy editor of the Swiss financial publication Finews, also <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.finews.ch\/news\/banken\/50178-suisse-secrets-cs-finma-bundesanwaltschaft-faliciani-panama-papers\"  data-link-name=\"in body link\">warned<\/a> that the bank\u2019s latest controversy could jeopardise an international review of Switzerland\u2019s anti-money-laundering measures expected to take place later this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">Referring to past scandals, Daniel Thelesklaf, the former head of Switzerland\u2019s anti-money-laundering body, said Credit Suisse had \u201calready lost a lot of its reputation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1dqrta9\">\u201cThis can become another crack in the wall,\u201d he said. \u201cUnless Credit Suisse undergoes a massive change of culture, it will lose the trust of its remaining clients soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Kalyeena_Makortoff.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-205843 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Kalyeena_Makortoff-e1645762941498.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" \/><\/a>Kalyeena Makortoff is the <\/em>Guardian<em>&#8216;s banking correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/David_Pegg.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-205844 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/David_Pegg-e1645762981814.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" \/><\/a>David Pegg is a reporter at the<\/em> Guardian.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2022\/feb\/21\/switzerland-at-risk-of-eu-blacklist-after-credit-suisse-leak\" >Go to Original &#8211; theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; 21 Feb 2022 &#8211;<br \/>\n* Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians.<br \/>\n* What is the Suisse secrets leak and why are we publishing it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":205845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1023,232,550,2798,555,1268,562,1624,2087,2059,1213,466],"class_list":["post-205842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-banksters","tag-capitalism","tag-corruption","tag-credit-suisse","tag-elites","tag-european-union","tag-finance","tag-mafia","tag-money-laundering","tag-organized-crime","tag-super-rich","tag-switzerland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}