RUSSIANS HAVE UP TO $213 BILLION STASHED OFFSHORE IN SWISS BANKS

Thu 17 March 2022:

Switzerland’s secretive banks hold up to $213 billion of Russian wealth, the country’s financial industry association estimates, as sanctions on Russia give a rare glimpse inside Swiss vaults.

The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) estimated that the banks hold between 150 billion and 200 billion Swiss francs ($213
billion) of Russian client money in offshore accounts.

This indicates that the extent of wealthy Russians’ business with banks in Switzerland, the world’s biggest centre for offshore wealth, is far more extensive than the on-balance sheet exposures several of its financial firms have begun to detail.

The SBA’s revelation is rare for Switzerland, which has stone-walled many previous transparency requests, and comes as it took the unusual step of applying European Union sanctions to Russian cash following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last month.

There is growing Swiss public debate about its role, with Mattea Meyer, co-president of the Social Democrats, calling for Switzerland to clamp down on any cash belonging to Russians close to President Vladimir Putin and his government.

“Part belongs to oligarchs loyal to the Kremlin. The money and their activity … helps finance the war,” she said, adding that Switzerland “must do everything possible to turn off the money taps”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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