Why dirty money still plagues Switzerland

As the Swiss parliament debates a beefed-up anti-money laundering law that has been hailed as exemplary by the World Bank, new scandals involving frozen assets have revealed the flaws in anti-money laundering regulation.  Known as the law on the freezing and restitution of illicitly acquired assets of foreign politically exposed persons, the new regulation aims to prove to the world that Switzerland is no longer the banker of choice for foreign despots.  The list of despots whose assets have tarnished the reputation of Switzerland and its banks has mushroomed since the Marcos (Philippines) affair in 1986. The names of Mobutu (former Zaire), Abacha (Nigeria), Salinas (Mexico), Duvalier (Haiti), Gbagbo (Ivory Coast), Ben Ali (Tunisia), Gaddafi (Libya) and Mubarak (Egypt) will forever be associated with the complicity of some Swiss banks in the dispossession and impoverishment of entire populations by their leaders.  Many in Switzerland believe these ...