Top US Official Praises Swiss Finance Sector

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

25 March 2002

Following a meeting with the Swiss State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Elizabeth Jones, has praised Switzerland's financial intelligence system, naming it as one of the best in the world.

Ms Jones met with Urs von Daeniken on Thursday in order to discuss the Swiss role in the war against terrorist funding and money laundering, and the country's recent decision to join the United Nations after 50 years as an observer.

Although the US envoy stressed that there are still many organisations throughout the world that the US and European Governments 'do not know enough about', she said that Switzerland's banking system had been highly effective in targeting the financial assets of terrorists, and praised the 'know your customer' and disclosure provisions in place in the alpine jurisdiction.

'We think it's quite a model for how other countries might conduct their banking procedures,' she revealed to Swissinfo on Thursday.

Ms Jones also announced that of the terrorist linked accounts frozen throughout the world, a quarter had been shut down in Switzerland, observing that: 'It is no accident that Switzerland has shut down as many accounts as it has. It is able to do so through the laws it has, and through the information it has demanded of its clients.'

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