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.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
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The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
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An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
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.
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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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