OCTOBER 13, 2016
The Swiss financial system is susceptible to money laundering with the number of cases rising over the past five years, warns the head of Switzerland’s financial regulatory body, FINMA. “The risk of money laundering in Switzerland has increased these past five years,” FINMA boss Mark Branson told the Tribune de Genève/24Heures newspaper.
At its annual press conference in April, FINMA’s CEO said although money laundering is a global problem, Switzerland is particularly vulnerable. He called on banks to clamp down more on money laundering.
Switzerland is the world’s biggest international wealth management centre with around $2.5 trillion in assets and has taken on more wealth of late from emerging markets, from which it is harder determine the origin of assets, Branson said.