Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Switzerland continues to fall down the corruption index: it has lost six points over the past ten years (the higher the score, the less corrupt). Experts report that bribery of public officials is increasingly perceived as common.
At the same time, new revelations from the Epstein files are making headlines: UBS accounts of Jeffrey Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell raise questions about the Swiss financial centre.
Switzerland has slipped further down the corruption index. It has once again lost ground in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 published by the NGO Transparency International.
Although the decline compared to the previous year is small, Switzerland has lost six points overall over the past ten years and is now in sixth place.
With 80 out of a possible 100 points, Switzerland shares sixth place with Sweden. Compared to the previous year, this is only one point less. However, Switzerland has lost a total of six points since 2015. That is significantly more than the average in Western Europe. According to Transparency International, this means that the risk of corruption in the public sector is increasing.
The index does not measure specific scandals, but rather the perception of corruption. Experts and managers from the business world are among those surveyed. In Switzerland, more and more of them say that bribery of public officials is common. Areas such as money laundering or corruption abroad are not included in the index.
Transparency International sees a need for action at all levels of government. The government’s new anti-corruption strategy is important, but falls short, it says. For example, it lacks clear rules for lobbying and an independent anti-corruption authority. There are often no strategies at all in the cantons and municipalities, even though a large proportion of public money is spent there.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has opened the first conference of the Swiss chairing of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in St Gallen. The two-day meeting focused on the fight against anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination.
Cassis warned of an increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks worldwide. In his opening speech, he emphasised that the resurgence of anti-Semitism and of hatred and discrimination against other groups was deeply worrying. This development was unacceptable, he said. Switzerland is also affected.
The aim of the conference in St Gallen is to better understand the spiral that leads to intolerance and discrimination in order to be able to take more effective action against the resulting hatred. The meeting is the first of five international meetings as part of the Swiss chairing of the OSCE. Through these meetings, Switzerland aims to both strengthen the fight against anti-Semitism and maintain political dialogue within the OSCE.
On the sidelines of the conference, Cassis also commented on the role of the OSCE in the war in Ukraine. Despite major tensions, it remains the only organisation that facilitates dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow. He emphasised that no quick successes should be expected, but that talks were a prerequisite for building trust and security in the long term.
The Swiss population is clearly against an increase in VAT. According to a survey, there is no majority in favour of the government’s proposal to finance either the army or the 13th monthly pension payment.
According to a survey conducted by the Sotomo research institute in collaboration with Blick, 76% of respondents reject a temporary increase in VAT to finance additional army expenditure. A majority also see no need to give the army more money.
There is also little support for a VAT increase to finance the 13th monthly pension payment. Some two-thirds of respondents are against it. Despite the approval of the 13th monthly pension payment at the ballot box, a large proportion of the population already feels financially burdened, according to Sotomo.
Around 15,000 people from German- and French-speaking Switzerland took part in the survey between January 31 and February 6. The results show a broad rejection of higher taxes across all political camps.
New revelations from the so-called Epstein Files raise questions about the Swiss banking centre. UBS is said to have opened several accounts for Ghislaine Maxwell, a close confidante of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a report by the Reuters news agency, the accounts were opened in 2014. UBS managed up to $19 million (CHF14.5 million) for Maxwell until at least 2019. By this time, Epstein had already been convicted of soliciting the prostitution of a minor. Other banks already categorised Maxwell as a high-risk client at the time.
However, according to current knowledge, UBS cannot be legally accused of any misconduct, business law expert Peter V. Kunz told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. Banks scrutinise clients according to legal, not moral criteria, he said. Nevertheless, it should be clarified why other major banks such as JP Morgan rejected the business relationship but UBS did not, he said.
UBS does not want to comment on the case. In addition to UBS, other players in Switzerland are also coming under pressure. For example, there are reports of earlier contact between Epstein and WEF CEO Børge Brende as well as a lively exchange between Epstein and a former bank employee from Zurich. What other “Swiss connections” come to light will probably depend on what the analysis of the more than three million documents reveals.
Translated using AI/ts
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