Money Laundering
Swiss Tell Frogs to Bug Off
A matter of monetary hygiene.
The French National Assembly seems to have inherited General de Gaulle's predisposition for saying 'Non!' to would be entrants to the European Union. Just days before a Swiss referendum vote on joining the EU, which is expected to be closer than previous votes, the Parliament's taskforce into European money-laundering has issued a downright rude report on Swiss banking practices called: "Switzerland's Fight Against Money Laundering is a Facade."
The report calls Switzerland a 'predator of world finance' and says the number of reported cases of suspected money-laundering is 'derisory'. The report was written by firebrand Socialist deputy Arnaud Montebourg, and it is not the first time M. Montebourg has demonstrated his skills in winning friends and influencing people. Last year he called Liechtenstein 'Europe's most dangerous tax haven'.
At a press conference in Paris, co-author Vincent Peillon said: "If Switzerland is so financially powerful, it is because this is a choice. It has made this choice and has systematically organized this choice."
The report says that Switzerland's 372 banks made only 303 reports of suspected money-laundering in the year 1999-2000, which Montebourg and Peillon say appears low, given Switzerland's importance as a financial center.
Swiss reactions were swift and angry. The Finance Ministry said that 198 (65%) of the 303 reported cases were sent to prosecutors, whereas in France only 129 (7%) of 1,655 cases were sent onwards, fewer than in Switzerland.
James Nason, a spokesman for the Swiss Bankers' Association, said the report's "sweeping allegations reflect considerable ignorance of Swiss banking. The fact is that Switzerland is a pioneer in the fight against money laundering. We cannot repeat often enough that Swiss bank customer confidentiality offers no protection whatsoever to criminals."
"Mr Montebourg and his team" said Mr Nason, "came to Switzerland with their eyes shut, with the sole purpose of confirming their own prejudices."
It's well-known that the French have traditionally used Switzerland as a home for their surplus wealth; driving across the border at the weekend with a gold bar in the trunk of your car has been a national sport for decades. Perhaps critics of Messrs Montebourg and Peillon should not be so harsh: maybe they're just trying to make sure that French people aren't deprived of their traditional 'safe harbour' through its admission to the EU - when the game would have to stop.
tax-news.com, February 22, 2001
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