Truth or tale: can any foreigner place millions at a Swiss bank?

Scandals featuring foreign despots hiding assets in Switzerland have prompted Swissinfo readers to ask if it is true that anyone can place huge sums of money in the country’s financial institutions.

Anyone can request to open an account at a bank in Switzerland, the Swiss Bankers Association explainsExternal link on its website. But first, a potential client has to go through a series of checks, including identity verification and disclosing the name of the beneficial owner of the funds they plan to deposit.

These checks are part of due diligence obligations that financial institutions have to follow under the Swiss banks’ code of conductExternal link and the Anti-Money Laundering ActExternal link. These rules are the first line of defence against so-called dirty money – proceeds from criminal activity – entering the Swiss financial system. A bank can therefore reject a new client if there are doubts about their identity, the beneficial owner or the origins of the assets.

But cases sometimes slip through the cracks. The Swiss financial regulator, FINMA, has found that not all banksExternal link have robust due-diligence systems in place to root out problematic clients.

Despite tightening regulations against money laundering and banking secrecy, Switzerland remains a preferred destinationExternal link for dirty money deposits from Africa, according to a 2024 investigation by Transparency International. Out of 43 cases of corruption, the NGO was able to trace ten of them to bank accounts in Switzerland, one fewer than top choice the United Kingdom.

Edited by Tony Barrett