Zurich - Official condemnation of Swiss banks for handling suspect Nigerian deposits increased pressure on banking here against a background of international moves against money laundering, AFP reported yesterday.
Swiss banking secrecy, a carefully preserved tradition in Swiss financial institutions, has already faced pressure recently from the European Union, keen to combat tax evasion.
On Monday, Swiss regulators condemned some Swiss banks for their handling of millions of dollars of funds linked to the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
The Swiss Federal Banking Commission (FBC) highlighted deficiencies in the way some Swiss banks had dealt with the accounts linked to the family and friends of Abacha, who are alleged to have embezzled up to $4 billion of public funds.
At Basel University, Mark Pieth, the professor of criminal law, said that globalisation and liberalisation of markets had increased pressure for controls.
Pieth, who is also the chairman of the working group on bribery of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said he believed the FBC report strengthened a case for laying banks open to the possibility of criminal action.
Switzerland was also under pressure because of its perceived ties with the small neighbouring principality of Liechtenstein, black-listed by the OECD, he said.