Homework for Switzerland in the fight against corruption
In a report published today, Transparency International shows the state of implementation of the OECD Anti-Corruption Convention. Although Switzerland actively implements the convention in comparison to other countries, there is an urgent need for action: the sanctions imposed for corruption offenses are insufficient, the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Act is too narrow, and the legal protection of whistleblowers should be improved.
The OECD Anti-Corruption Convention was adopted 20 years ago. Today, it is more important than ever, as cross-border economic transactions and the associated corruption risks have multiplied once again since then, as Transparency International Switzerland writes. With the "Exporting Corruption Report 2018" published today, Transparency International has examined the status of implementation of the convention at national level in a country-by-country comparison. The results show a sobering picture: Since the last investigation in 2015, only little progress has been made. The convention's goal of corruption-free competition in global trade therefore remains a long way off.
What deficits?
Of the 43 countries examined, Switzerland, together with six other nations, is in the group of countries that actually actively implement the Convention in practice. Nevertheless, Switzerland still does not comply with the Convention in important areas and lags behind other countries:
- The sanctions imposed by Swiss authorities for corruption offenses are proving to be insufficient, especially in the case of legal entities.
- The scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Act is too narrow. The Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act should also cover certain activities provided by lawyers, notaries, trustees, real estate agents, and dealers in art and luxury goods, which can easily be misused for money laundering purposes.
- The legal protection of Whistleblowers is insufficient and should be urgently improved (cf. also here).
- Corruption tracking data is incompletely recorded and should also be made more accessible.
Commenting on Switzerland's performance, Martin Hilti, Executive Director of Transparency International Switzerland, says: "Even though Switzerland is implementing the OECD Convention correctly and more actively than other countries in several areas, it has still not done its homework in the fight against corruption in full, even 18 years after joining the Convention: it must not be the case that we continue to allow substantial loopholes for corruption and money laundering in our country. The shortcomings identified must therefore be remedied quickly and effectively. Corruption and money laundering damage the economy, the general public and the reputation of our country."
The report "Exporting Corruption Report 2018 - Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention" including the country analysis Switzerland (English) is available at here to find.
