Transparency International wants Switzerland to do more about shell companies
Switzerland is lagging behind in the fight against the abuse of anonymity provided by companies and trusts, which is often used to commit financial crimes. That is the conclusion of Transparency International in a report published on Thursday. The report placed Switzerland in the second-highest category of “strong framework” among the 23 countries assessed by the anti-corruption NGO. Only four countries - France, Italy, the UK and Spain - made it to the highest or “very strong framework” category when it comes to identifying and verifying beneficial ownership of companies. Switzerland does well in the areas of risk assessment, information acquisition by companies and cooperation between authorities, the report notes. On the other hand, it lags in other areas, such as a lack of a centralised register of beneficial owners of legal entities. Switzerland is also the only country that does not require financial institutions to verify beneficial owner information with a valid ID.