Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

UBS fined CHF50,000 for suspected money-laundering negligence 

A picture of the red UBS lettering and interlocking three keys logo on a building. Other buildings are reflected in the building’s windows.
The penalty concerned a payment of over $10 million (CHF9 million) to the ex-president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in 2009 by the Sultan of Oman. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Switzerland’s finance ministry has fined UBS bank CHF50,000 ($55,220) after employees allegedly failed to report red flags of money laundering over several years. 

Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.

These were in connection with accounts held by the controversial ex-president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh.  

Reported on Thursday by SRF Investigativ, the finance ministry confirmed the news to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. The finance ministry said the penalty notice was dated April 4, 2024, and had become legally binding following expiry of the 30-day objection period. However, the notice itself was not available for inspection.  

UBS is alleged to have managed millions of dollars for Saleh. According to SRF Investigativ, the penalty concerned a payment of more than $10 million (CHF9 million) to Saleh in 2009 by the Sultan of Oman. The cheque was handed over to UBS in Zurich by Saleh’s son.  

The transaction triggered internal alerts at UBS, but instead of contacting the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS), employees only noted in an internal dossier: “It is common knowledge that wealthy rulers in the Arab world support their poorer colleagues with such gifts.” 

+ UBS accused of role in embezzling Congolese millions

According to SRF Investigativ, the accounts of the Saleh family were balanced in 2011. Despite further red flags, UBS still failed to notify the authorities. SRF said: “According to the finance ministry, the bank also failed to record why it did not do so in a comprehensible manner.” 

The fault of the unidentified individuals at UBS who were responsible for such reporting was considerable, the finance ministry said. It said that, assuming slight negligence, the fine was set at CHF50,000. This is the maximum amount that can be imposed on a legal entity in administrative criminal proceedings by the finance ministry.  

The proceedings against UBS began in 2021, and it took two years for prosecutors to obtain the relevant files from the bank, the ministry said.

UBS had no comment when contacted by AWP news agency. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/ts 

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

More than 1,100 Swiss cheeses on show in Lugano

More

Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced

This content was published on The three best Swiss cheeses were chosen on Friday in Lugano from over 1100 products submitted to an international jury.

Read more: Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced
Switzerland delivers equipment worth 5.6 million to Ukraine

More

Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

This content was published on Thirty rubble removal machines and thirty fire-fighting pumps: this is the equipment that Switzerland will be delivering to the Ukraine in the next few days. The total value of these goods is 5.6 million Swiss francs.

Read more: Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR