Switzerland: Money‐Laundering Legislation and Asset Forfeiture Available to Purchase

Switzerland is a traditional financial centre with an uninterrupted record of success so far. If the three main banking centres of the country (Zurich, Geneva and Lugano) were pooled, Switzerland would appear as the third banking centre in the world after New York and London. A few years ago it was reckoned that between 5 and 8 per cent of the total world volume of foreign exchange transactions were handled by the Swiss financial market, mostly through inter‐bank transactions. According to an estimation made in 1989 by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration at the request of an inter‐ministry group of experts dealing with money‐laundering issues, it was reckoned that approximately CHF135m (approximately USS100m) poured into Switzerland every week.