Swiss government approves anti-money laundering plan

Source Credit : Reuters

The Swiss government on Friday approved a plan for ​combating money laundering and terrorist ‌financing that it said would strengthen controls while protecting the integrity ​of the country as ​a financial centre.

After conducting a review, ⁠the country will now ​focus on developing instruments for ​criminal prosecution and stronger supervisory authorities in the coming years, the statement said.

This ​will include improving data ​bases and preparing a third national risk ‌assessment ⁠on money laundering, following the first two in 2015 and 2021, respectively.

In September Swiss lawmakers had ​sought to ​water ⁠down government proposals on preventing financial crime, saying ​the country needed to ​stay ⁠competitive in cross-border wealth management in the face of rivals ⁠such ​as Singapore and ​the United Arab Emirates gaining ground.

Effectively combating money laundering and terrorist financing is one of the priorities of Swiss financial market policy. The Federal Council's strategy aims to establish an effective, risk-based, cooperative and innovative Swiss defence framework. It provides a common framework for existing strategies of the offices and authorities involved, and offers an overview of the situation.

The internationally recognised Swiss defence framework is to be further developed and strengthened in line with the stated ambition.

In order to increase the effectiveness of Switzerland's defence framework, the focus in the coming years will be on introducing and using the transparency register approved by Parliament, developing practical instruments for criminal prosecution and stronger supervisory authorities. In order to identify risks even more effectively, improvements to the data bases and the preparation of the third national risk assessment are planned.

Cooperation between federal units, between the authorities and the private sector, and within the private sector is also a priority, as is the continuous adaptation and strengthening of instruments and approaches in asset recovery.

The strategy is primarily aimed at the offices and authorities that make up the coordinating group on combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing (CGMF). The strategy aims to contribute to a better understanding of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and to improve the coordination of measures at national level.

It also underlines Switzerland's national and international commitment to combating financial crime, and is closely aligned with the national strategy for combating organised crime adopted by the Federal Council at the end of last year.