The Swiss government is considering a bill that would require lawyers to report suspicious financial transactions. The publication writes about this Bloomberg.
This is part of global efforts to combat tax evasion and money laundering. According to the government’s initiative, lawyers who help set up companies or purchase real estate will be required to inform the Swiss Anti-Laundering Office about suspicious transactions. Those who do not comply with the law are subject to a fine of up to 500 thousand Swiss francs ($600 thousand).
But the legal industry plans to fight back. Lawyers argue that the bill is vague and will affect not only shadow lawyers but also corporate firms. According to them, authorities underestimated the complexity of enforcing the rules.
Miguel Oural, president of the Geneva Bar Association, believes the new rules will lead to an unbearable amount of additional reporting for commercial lawyers.
Before that Swiss banks were known introduced Commissions on blocked assets of Russians.
Formerly Swiss banking secret stopped to exist.