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What are Fincen files? Banks around the world have done business with high-risk clients for years, as evidenced by studies by journalists from nearly 90 countries published under the name Fincen-Files. Fincen is the US money laundering reporting bureau, documents leaked from there show that the banks, despite strict regulations, accepted suspected criminals as customers and made billions worth of transfers to them. The documents are about 2,100 suspicious transaction reports, mainly from the years 2008 to 2017. Therefore, the total amount of the transactions is around two trillion US dollars.
Which banks have been particularly affected by the disclosures? Deutsche Bank is the bank with the most suspicious wire transfers. However, the Süddeutsche Zeitung involved in the investigation writes that this does not have to mean that Deutsche Bank performs the majority of the reporting, but could also be due to the composition of the leaked data. Other large global banks are often mentioned in Fincen’s files besides Deutsche Bank, these include JPMorgan, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and Bank of New York Mellon.
What role do Swiss banks play? 2,051 suspicious transactions should affect Switzerland. Relative to Swiss banks, about $ 3.7 billion was received and about $ 4.2 billion was recorded as cash outflows, according to Fincen files. Banks like Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank Vontobel, Raiffeisen, Pictet, Julius Bär, Bank Sarasin, and Zürcher Kantonalbank are affected. Numerous foreign banks located in Switzerland are also mentioned.
Are there legal consequences? Not at the moment, especially since it is unclear whether the transactions are always criminal money. US banks would report more than two million such cases per year, writes the “Tages-Anzeiger,” which was also involved in the investigation. They often report suspicious cases where they do not receive information from a third country due to bank secrecy. Suspicious reports therefore reflect concerns from watchdogs within banks, according to the report by the journalists’ consortium. But they are not evidence of criminal behavior.
How are Swiss banks reacting to the disclosures? The Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) told the AWP news agency that it was not commenting on potential customer relationships. But it maintains all the regulatory requirements and compliance processes. Bank Vontobel also says they obey the law and have “professional internal processes to avoid the risk of being used for money laundering.” The other banks consulted so far have declined to comment.
Is Swiss politics reacting? On the contrary: in the revision of the Money Laundering Law two weeks ago, a majority in the Council of States praised the Swiss system as exemplary. Hardening, particularly the subordination of attorneys and trustees, was rejected as excessive. This is contradicted by expert Daniel Thelesklaf, who was the federal government’s leading anti-money laundering fighter until last June. In the “Tages-Anzeiger” he said that the Swiss system was not efficient. The great money launderers often remained intact.
