Swiss regulator Finma has tightened the watch of several banks as they appear to have a bigger exposure to money-laundering risks, Mark Branson, the authority's boss, said in an interview this weekend.
Finma, the Bern-based financial market supervisor, has put a new warning system into place regarding money laundering activities. «About 15 banks are in the danger zone,» said Mark Branson, the director of Finma, in an interview with «Sonntagszeitung». «That means they are particularly exposed.»
The institutes in question mainly are active in wealth management, and frequently deal with clients from emerging markets. Understanding the background of assets from those countries often is more difficult, Branson said. The banks under closer watch are of different size and based in all the regions of Switzerland.
Frequent Checks
Asked, whether the big banks were part of the group, Branson said: «I wouldn't say in the plural, but the answer is yes.»
The former UBS and Credit Suisse manager also said that the companies in question had to deliver additional information and that the regulator or the auditors were checking them more frequently.
«Irritating»
Many banks had understood that a tighter control mechanism was essential, Branson. Still, not all banks had invested an equal amount in the expansion of the relevant units and procedures.
The Finma director added that it was his job to be impatient. «It is irritating that Swiss banks play a role in big corruption cases such as 1MDB and Petrobras,» because they go back only a few years. «The question is, will we be occupied by yet more cases in a couple of years time, cases that happen today,» Branson asked.
