The country’s government intends to introduce a register of beneficial owners. Lawyers, consultants and accountants need to evaluate clients.
Swiss authorities have prepared a radical plan to combat schemes to hide the sources of money entering the country’s financial system. Although it aims to fight money laundering in general, the topic of countering Russians, including those trying to evade sanctions, occupies an important place in the discussion of tightening the financial regime. This was reported on Wednesday, August 30 by Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
“Increased transparency should allow investigative authorities to determine more quickly and with more confidence who is really behind the legal structures,” the Swiss government said.
The main provisions of the draft law (which have not yet been discussed publicly) are as follows:
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all registered companies, trusts and other legal entities must disclose their beneficial owners. Information about them will be collected in a special register;
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anti-money laundering requirements will also apply to lawyers, consultants, accountants and other service providers. They have to check clients, keep information about the results of checks, report suspicious cases to the authorities;
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measures are introduced to prevent violations and avoid restrictions on penalties;
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the cash threshold for precious metal transactions was lowered from 100,000 francs to 15,000 francs (from $114,000 to $17,100).
Today, Switzerland remains the only country in Europe without a register of beneficial owners. Critics say it allows oligarchs and criminals from around the world to hide money in the country, using the services of its lawyers and consultants.
Recall that in mid-August, Switzerland joined the 11th package of EU sanctions against Russia. We are talking about banning the export of dual-use goods and goods that contribute to the military-technical strengthening of Russia.
In Switzerland, a third of Russian diplomats are suspected of espionage
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.