SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Paul Gully-Hart, Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd
Strengthening of Swiss anti-corruption legislation Over the past four years, legislative action linked to combating corruption may be summarised as follows. • The Swiss Federal Act on Money Launder - ing of 10 October 1997 has been amended to give more sweeping powers to the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS), which is Switzerland’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The amendments were tailored to meet recom - mendations made by the Working Group of the OECD and of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). • In 2024, the government introduced a bill purporting to create a national register of ultimate beneficial owners of Swiss legal enti - ties and to extend client identification, record keeping and reporting obligations to legal and accounting professionals involved in specified services and transactions that are deemed to carry an enhanced risk of money laundering. The government draft bill is currently being debated by the Swiss Parliament. • Draft legislation designed to increase the protection of whistle-blowers in the private sector has failed to meet the approval of the Swiss Parliament. The lack of adequate pro - tection of whistle-blowers has been identified as one of the main weaknesses of the Swiss anti-corruption regime. Perception of corruption in Switzerland The perception of corruption in Switzerland remains relatively low compared to other simi - larly developed economies. The Corruption Per - ception Index (CPI) which is published every year by Transparency International (TI) has constantly placed Switzerland in the league of nations with the lowest perception of corruption. However, in 2021 and 2022, the global score attributed to
Trends and Developments of Swiss Anti- Corruption Law Overview of the Swiss government’s strategy to fight corruption On 25 November 2020, the Swiss government (Federal Council) published a press release confirming the adoption of the first Swiss anti- corruption strategy to be implemented between 2021 and 2024. Although the strategy is directed at the federal administration, it is also intended to have a wider reach within the private sector. It defines 11 objectives and 42 measures that are to be implemented by 2024 in order to prevent, detect and eradicate corruption in Switzerland. It also addresses international pending issues in the field. It does, therefore, refer to recommen - dations made by the OECD Working Group and GRECO (the Group of States against Corruption created by the Council of Europe). A Swiss government agency referred to as the Interdepartmental Working Group on Combating Corruption (IWG) has been in charge of drafting the Swiss government’s Anti-Corruption Strate - gy 2021–2024 and of monitoring its implementa - tion. The latest report of the IWG was published in July 2024 and provides a detailed assessment of how the national strategy was carried out dur - ing the years 2021–2023. The IWG co-ordinates the anti-corruption activi - ties of federal government offices and agencies at various levels. It includes representatives from the Federal Administration and the Office of the Federal Attorney General (OFAG) of Switzerland. Independent experts and representatives from the cantons, cities, business community and civil society are also involved in workshops.
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