Switzerland Takes a Major Step in Combating Terrorist Financing with Public-Private Partnership

The Swiss Federal Council has taken note of a report on the establishment of a public-private partnership to combat terrorist financing and money laundering, marking a significant step forward in the country’s efforts to prevent these crimes.

The partnership aims to share financial information between the public and private sectors to enhance the ability to tackle terrorist financing and money laundering. This strategic collaboration will enable the identification of methods, trends, threats, and risks in terrorist financing and money laundering, as well as sharing statistical data, indicators, and typologies to help the private sector better identify suspicious cases.

Origins of the Partnership

The idea for the partnership was first proposed by the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), which concluded that such an initiative could make a vital contribution to fighting crime. The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) was tasked with examining the feasibility of introducing a public-private partnership in Switzerland and has been working closely with various authorities and banking and financial experts.

Financial Sector Support

The financial sector has welcomed the proposal, signaling its willingness to actively contribute to developing a strategic partnership for sharing information between the public and private sectors. This follows in the footsteps of 20 of the world’s most important financial centers, which have already established similar partnerships with positive results, particularly in terms of prevention.

Federal Council Endorsement

The Federal Council has given its blessing to the initiative, hailing it as a cornerstone of the country’s crime-fighting strategy. The partnership is expected to involve using strategic analysis to identify methods, trends, threats, and risks in terrorist financing and money laundering, and sharing statistical data, indicators, and typologies to enable the private sector to better identify suspicious cases.

Key Components

The partnership will also take into account legal provisions in Switzerland, such as bank-client confidentiality, and will be developed through a collaborative effort between MROS and the financial sector. The next phase of the project will involve defining the form, objectives, legal basis, and composition of the partnership.

Background and Authority

MROS’s authority to explore the possibility of a public-private partnership is based on a Federal Council mandate issued in November 2021, which instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP), together with the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), to examine the feasibility of such an initiative.

Expected Benefits

The establishment of a public-private partnership is seen as a key step forward in Switzerland’s efforts to combat terrorist financing and money laundering, and is expected to have significant benefits for both the private sector and law enforcement agencies.