Law Commons^™

Money Laundering And Its Current Status In Switzerland: New Disincentives For Financial Tourism, Rebecca G. Peters

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

As a national source of tourism, the Swiss Alps are, at least in one sense, overshadowed by the banks and finance companies of Switzerland. Because of the relatively strict Swiss banking secrecy laws, the stability of the Swiss franc and the long-standing expertise of Swiss banks in currency trading, financial tourists in the past have relied with alarming consistency on Switzerland's financial system to "launder," i.e., introduce into the normal flow of legitimate capital, funds or assets stemming from illegal activities. Proof of Switzerland's status as a capital for financial tourism lies in the oft-observed coincidence that the trails of …