Urs Philipp Roth, president of the Swiss Bankers Association, and Jean Bonna, an associate with Lombard Odier condemned the shady stereotypes that had arisen in the wake of what they called headline-grabbing money laundering scandals, and sought to debunk some of the myths regarding the Switzerland's long standing private banking industry.

Addressing the press, Mr Roth stressed that his country 'offered no protection once a penal procedure has been opened following a violation such as money laundering, corruption, insider trading, or fiscal fraud.' Perhaps thinking of recent events surrounding allegations of corruption in the French government, he added: 'The fact that fiscal fraud has been committed in Switzerland or abroad plays no role given that Switzerland accords international judicial cooperation.'

Both men cited Switzerland's swift action in the case of Sani Abacha, the deceased Nigerian dictator who was found to have embezzled over US$3 billion from his country's economy, part of which was subsequently deposited in Swiss bank accounts. The Swiss authorities opened an investigation, and froze accounts linked to the Abacha regime containing more than $650 million, $108.2 million of which has since been returned to Nigeria. Mr Bonna pointed out that all this was accomplished before the British, whose banking system was also being used to launder embezzled money, had even got off the starting block.

Mr Roth also pointed out that as a result of legislation laying out strict guidelines for banks regarding suspect fund transfers, 270 cases had been reported to the authhorities, of which 70% resulted in investigations, with just over half being effectively blocked or prosecuted.