After revelations about lax money laundering controls in Switzerland, the EU Commission is demanding further reforms from the government in Bern. This emerges from a letter from Financial Markets Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to CSU MEP Markus Ferber. the Süddeutsche Zeitungg, customer data from Bank Credit Suisse was leaked on a large scale, proving how autocrats and criminals were able to stash their money in Switzerland for years. The research was published in February as “Suisse Secrets”. In a letter to his party friend McGuinness, Ferber, the economic policy spokesman for the Christian Democratic EPP group, wanted to know how the Commission would react to the “Suisse Secrets”.
The commissioner wrote back to “Dear Markus” that her authority took note of the revelations “with great concern”. In any case, the Commission is in contact with the Swiss authorities to improve money laundering controls. This approach is showing “positive results”, with stricter rules coming into force in July. This exchange will now be intensified to ensure “that further reforms are implemented to remedy identified deficits”. If no progress is made, but the Commission will keep all options open, the Irishwoman threatens. She is alluding to the fact that the Commission could add Switzerland to the black list of countries that do not cooperate in the fight against money laundering. Ferber welcomes the threat: Switzerland is “under increased surveillance, and that’s right,” he says.