Swiss watchdog seizes £11m from Mirabaud in laundering case

Switzerland's financial market regulator on Tuesday said it had confiscated 12.7 million Swiss francs (£11.36m) from private bank Mirabaud for breaches of financial market law and money-laundering obligations.

FINMA said Mirabaud had not made sufficient checks on customer relationships and transactions linked to a now deceased businessman who was accused of tax evasion.

It had also opened three enforcement proceedings against individuals in relation to the case, adding that it was not disclosing disclosing any further details concerning these proceedings or the identity of those concerned.

"As is customary in such cases, FINMA appointed an investigating agent to examine the matter. The bank had contested FINMA’s disclosure of public information about the proceedings in court. The appeal has now been dismissed by the Federal Supreme Court," the regulator said in a statement.

Mirabaud maintained "multiple business relationships" after 2010 with companies and complex structures that could have been directly or indirectly connected with the aforementioned businessman, it added.

The bank managed assets of up to $1.7bn within the scope of these business relationships, at times accounting for almost 10% of the bank’s entire assets under management.

Investigations revealed the bank "inadequately reviewed and documented the beneficial ownership and economic background of numerous transactions" despite indications of increased money-laundering risks in particular in connection with qualified tax avoidance and concrete warnings since 2018 concerning the relevant client relationships.