The United States is very pleased with the efforts Switzerland has made so far to find the funds of Russians sanctioned after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Scott Miller said in an interviewExternal link with the newspaper Le Temps published on Wednesday.
“We respect Switzerland’s role in the sanctions,” he said. “It is, after all, a sanctions package of a size and scope that, frankly, the world has never seen before.”
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Is Switzerland doing enough to freeze Russian assets?
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Untangling the main areas of contention surrounding Swiss efforts to track down and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russians.
Switzerland had blocked Russian funds of CHF6.3 billion ($6.5 billion) by May 12, according to Erwin Bollinger, head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). At the beginning of April this amount had stood at CHF7.5 billion, but CHF3.4 billion, which had been frozen too quickly, had been returned. Another CHF2.2 billion were found between these two dates.
‘Lack of zeal’
Earlier in May, Bill Browder, an expert of the Helsinki Committee of the US Congress and the US government, had accused Switzerland of showing a lack of zeal in the hunt for Russian assets. He called on the US to rethink the framework for its cooperation with Bern.
Miller expressed reassurance about this in the Le Temps interview. “The Helsinki Commission is an independent commission that has no constitutional powers and is not a government agency.” The people who spoke there do not represent the official position of the government of US President Joe Biden, he said.
In an interviewExternal link with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung at the beginning of April, Miller called on Swiss banks to search for Russian oligarch money more actively. Banks that did not cooperate would have to expect negative consequences, he said.
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Ambassadors urge tougher Swiss stance against Russia
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The Ukrainian and United States ambassadors to Bern have called on Switzerland to redouble its efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
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The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
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The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
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Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
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Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
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New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
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In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
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Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
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Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
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From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
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US commission accuses Switzerland of hiding Russian assets
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Swiss anti-corruption expert testifies to a US government commission that Swiss lawyers help Russian oligarchs hide funds.
Biden names Scott Miller as US ambassador to Switzerland
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US President Joe Biden has nominated LGBTQ rights activist and philanthropist Scott Miller to serve as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
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