 |  |
| Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources | Return to: Left History: a digital archive |
| |
| Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources | Return to: Left History: a digital archive |
Carla del Ponte is not the only person praying she will get her dream job as the United Nations' next chief prosecutor of international war crimes.
Switzerland's attorney-general has the backing of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general - and some of Switzerland's bankers will be hoping that there is no last-minute hitch to prevent her leaving them in peace.
Mrs del Ponte would succeed Louise Arbour, who is leaving to fill a vacancy on Canada's Supreme Court.
The 52-year-old lawyer from the Italian part of Switzerland has made life uncomfortable for Swiss banks during her four years as the country's chief prosecutor.
Her high-profile campaigns against Latin American drug traffickers, Italian mafia bosses and well-connected Russian politicians have strengthened the impression abroad that Switzerland is home to far more dirty money than any other large financial centre.
She estimates that $40bn of Russian money has been laundered through Switzerland since the collapse of communism and that some 300 Swiss firms have been infiltrated by the Italian mafia. She also believes that Swiss banks are sitting on sizeable sums belonging to murdered Colombian drug cartel chiefs.
As if this sort of publicity was not bad enough for Switzerland's image as a respectable financial centre, she is also keen to water down one of Switzerland's biggest attractions - the bank secrecy laws that guarantee protection against international tax evasion investigations.
Swiss bank secrecy can only be lifted where Switzerland recognises a crime. Tax evasion is not a crime in Switzerland.
Mrs del Ponte believes that Switzerland has to change its attitude to tax evasion. Last week a report from the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development noted that foreigners wanting to evade taxes could be "reasonably certain" to go undetected by using a Swiss bank or lawyer.
International pressure on Switzerland to crack down on tax evasion and fraud was already "very great" and Switzerland should try to find a solution before it was forced to do so, Mrs del Ponte said yesterday.
Such talk is anathema to Swiss bankers like Hans-Dieter Vontobel, chairman of Zurich's second largest independent bank. He argues that anyone having to pay more than 50 per cent tax "warrants particular sympathy and help" and should continue to be protected by Swiss bank secrecy laws. By so doing, Switzerland can "make a major contribution to disciplining politicians who have exceeded the limits of fiscal proportions, especially in Europe".
Since arriving on the scene, Mrs del Ponte has frozen far more Swiss bank accounts than her predecessor, confiscated several hundred million dollars of drugs money and done more than anyone to challenge Swiss bank secrecy laws.
She is the only official figure in Switzerland to warrant a permanent bodyguard. Yet her record in putting criminals behind bars has not been as successful as her ability to hit the headlines with well-publicised raids and investigations.
Last October, after a three-year investigation into Raul Salinas, the jailed brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas, Mrs del Ponte ordered the confiscation of $114m of drug-related money, most held by Swiss banks. Last month the high court said she had no authority to confiscate funds.
It followed a setback in December when Sergei Mikhailov, a suspected Russian mafia boss who wanted to settle in Switzerland, was sent back to Russia because there was not enough evidence to convict him. Mrs del Ponte had regarded the trial as "the tip of the iceberg" of Russian organised crime in Switzerland.
Mrs del Ponte's failure to secure convictions points to weaknesses in Switzerland's federal system. Legal responsibility for money laundering is split between the cantons and central government. Her ability to investigate is limited to drug related crimes. Many money laundering cases are handled at a cantonal level where the level of expertise is limited.
Daniel Thelesklaf, head of Switzerland's new money laundering reporting office, admits that the country still has a bad image. However, he believes that new legislation requiring 400 banks and 10,000 non-banks to report suspicious transactions, is among the toughest in the world.
In the first year there were 160 reports of suspected money laundering involving SFr330m ($221m), of which 107, involving SFr236m, were passed to the prosecuting authorities. But he is conscious that the success of Switzerland's new money laundering legislation will be judged by the number of bankers put behind bars. This is where Mrs del Ponte's successor is important.
If the government appointed Bernard Bertossa, Geneva's state prosecutor, as Swiss attorney-general, and strengthened his powers, it would be taken as a sign that Switzerland really was serious about international money laundering.