Seco and the US government want to cooperate more closely

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When the two argue… the third comes in to mediate: Brian Nelson, Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Transactions Investigations. Biden’s senior enforcement officer met with Seco on Tuesday afternoon and also sat down with Secretary of State Helene Budliger Artieda, 58, and US Ambassador Scott Miller, 43. The head of Seco and Biden’s wife in Bern recently filed a public complaint about the imposition of Russian sanctions in Switzerland.

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs praised the meeting as “constructive” and “respectful”. Spokesperson Antje Baertschi said on request that the “valuable exchange” “will form a basis for further expanding the existing and already very good cooperation”.

At the beginning of the meeting, Nelson acknowledged Switzerland’s participation in international sanctions against Russia. Both sides want to enforce sanctions effectively and recognize that good international cooperation is a prerequisite for this. The exchange of information should be “further expanded”. In addition, the “lawyers’ problem of asset management” was addressed.

The latter was the focus of the US Treasury official’s visit. He is particularly interested in the role of lawyers in asset management. They also set up complex structures in offshore countries from Switzerland and act as trustees illegally. Due to a loophole in the Swiss Money Laundering Law, it is difficult to keep track of them.

Corruption expert: “Seco is paralyzed in pursuit of oligarch money”

“There are many countries in the world that interpret the attorney-client privilege broadly – including the United States,” says corruption hunter Mark Pieth (70), a former professor of criminal law and criminology at the University of Basel and former head of the Organized Crime Department. In an interview with the Handelszeitung at the Ministry of Justice. “As long as a lawyer engages in classical legal activities, he is within the scope of attorney-client privilege and the client enjoys attorney-client privilege. But as a financial intermediary you are not a lawyer – then only confidentiality applies.”

Between these two legal privileges lies a gray area that stretches across Switzerland. “This paralyzes Seco in its search for clandestine oligarch money. Because it can’t even reach the rightful owner.”

Pieth criticizes Switzerland for not wanting to join the oligarch task force Repo. “There would be something only Switzerland would gain.”

US official open to different multilateral format

G7 ambassadors have yet to receive an official response to Switzerland’s request to join the warehouse. But Guy Parmelins (63) The Economics Department and Seco’s position is clear. During its meeting with the US sanctions officer, Seco reiterated that it will work “intensely” with other states, even if it is independent of an official task force.

“I think we’re trying to think together about how we should create channels to share information, what they might look like, and how we can make existing channels more productive and effective,” a senior US official said. its name wants to be called “Handelszeitung” on Tuesday at this point.

He was open to “another multilateral format”, but stressed that the repo was most effective at uncovering complex structures specifically designed to circumvent sanctions. In this context, the US official also opposed a statement by Seco boss Budliger Artieda: The US had already provided Switzerland with information on classified assets very well.

How much oligarch money still has in Switzerland?

According to US Ambassador Scott Miller (43), another 50 to 100 billion CHF could be frozen in Switzerland – that would be many times the assets frozen to date. According to his spokesperson, the US ambassador’s statement that caused confusion in March was about “potential amounts of Russian assets held in Switzerland that could be contained under sanctions.”

Data from the Swiss Bankers Association and discussions with US and international partners, economists and money laundering experts formed the basis of the calculation. Various factors were examined in determining the number, “including the assessment of financial markets of similar size compared to other offshore financial centres, bolstered by publicly available data and Switzerland’s attractiveness as a stable financial environment.”

US put Switzerland on sanctions list

Just last week, the US sanctioned three Swiss and two companies for supporting Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanow (69) and Gennady Timchenko (70). The three Swiss are considered “facilitators” associated with the law firm Sequoia, registered in the neighboring Principality of Liechtenstein.

Sequoia is suspected of “providing or supporting Timchenko financially, materially or technologically, or providing goods or services to Timchenko.”

Geneva-based Pomerol Capital has been appointed as the trustee of the Sister Trust, a Bermuda corporation allegedly managed on behalf of Usmanov and his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova. Metalloinvest Trading, an iron ore supplier and mining group based in the canton of Zug, was also affiliated with Usmanow.

The Swiss visit was the longest stop of US Sanctions Commissioner Brian Nelson’s trip to Europe this week. In addition to Seco, Nelson also met with representatives of the Swiss Bankers Association, leading financial institutions, the State Secretariat for International Financial Affairs and civil society.

Switzerland is considered a key country when it comes to the enforcement of sanctions. Pressure on Switzerland to do more to counter the circumvention attempt may increase, not only from the US and other G7 countries, but also from the Financial Action Task Force. Switzerland is a member of it. The international organization, which sets standards in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and monitors compliance with these, criticized Switzerland in its latest country report at many points.

Source :Blick