The Swiss enforcer’s punchy tone after censuring five banks over their Venezuelan dealings sits uneasily with renewed momentum in the U.S. in the affair, finews.com finds.

Bern-based Finma on Thursday called time on an investigation into 30 Swiss banks over the last four years, which ended in enforcements for big names Credit Suisse and Julius Baer as well as three smaller and lesser-known institutes (click here and here for more).

This «brings to an end to all enforcement proceedings against banks in the context of Venezuela and in particular linked to PDVSA,» said Finma, where ex-Zurich Insurance investment chief Urban Angehrn took over this month.

Justice Bombshells

Finma’s breezy tone comes against the backdrop of several bombshells in the U.S. in recent weeks. The first is the conviction on Wednesday of Bruce Bagley, a retired professor specialized in Latin American crime who helped launder Venezuelan billions.

Bagley leads to the second bombshell: the extradition of Alex Saab to the U.S. last month. Saab, a Colombian businessman who was close with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, is by far the biggest fish netted by U.S. prosecutors so far.

Spearheading Efforts

The U.S. has spearheaded efforts to investigate alleged money laundering in connection with PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-controlled oil firm, beginning back in 2015. Saab’s arrival in the U.S., where he was arraigned in Miami earlier this week on money laundering charges, is momentous for crimefighters.

Saab is accused of rinsing $350 million in illicit money. He allegedly used Switzerland to launder about half of that, according to «Gotham City» (behind paywall, in French). The investigative portal reported that Saab maintained no less than 22 accounts at UBS.

Geneva’s prosecutor last year quietly shut an investigation into Saab, «Gotham City» reported in March. A spokesman for the Swiss bank declined to comment.

Renewed U.S. Impetus

The Bagley-Saab connection represents a major breakthrough in the PDVSA investigation, and gives renewed impetus to the U.S. investigation. A Finma spokesman didn’t comment on Saab, UBS, or whether the Swiss regulator had passed any evidence on to the attorney general.

Going by past money laundering investigations, it is safe to assume that Finma looked into UBS, but didn’t find anything grievously wrong enough with the Swiss manager’s anti-crime arsenal to take it under official enforcement.

Swiss Complications

Finma’s job is complicated by a general disinterest politically to tackle money laundering compared to other financial centers, as finews.com has argued. Investigators in Bern have also seen their efforts hindered by a lack of cooperation from Venezuela, where Maduro maintains a hold on power.

It isn’t clear whether Saab’s U.S. trial will lead to new revelations for the 25 Swiss banks that escaped a Finma enforcement. The bottom line on PDVSA and regulatory Switzerland is that it is over – at least for now.