Switzerland: A haven for Russian money? | DW Documentary
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2024
- Despite sanctions against Russia, asset managers are said to have hidden money belonging to Putin‘s confidants. This documentary follows the trail of shadow bankers and high-ranking Russian officials to Switzerland.
Private jets and villas, bank accounts and financial assets: Switzerland is coming under criticism from the international community. Have Swiss asset managers and well-known institutions circumvented sanctions against wealthy Russians with good connections to the Kremlin?
When the Russian army invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union responded with sanctions against Russia. Russian oligarchs who did business in Europe were also affected. Many of them keep their assets in Swiss private banks. Switzerland joined the sanctions, albeit hesitantly and only under pressure from abroad.
However, it appears that some Russian citizens are still managing to circumvent the sanctions. This is indicated by internal documents from a Zurich-based asset manager that were published on the darknet for a short time in 2023. How extensive are the concealed Russian assets? How seriously did the Swiss authorities take the sanctions? And by what means are the US and Europe trying to force the hand of the Swiss banks?
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As an african, I know Switzerland is heaven for our leaders. 😅
And your leaders also love loans from China, selling your future generations into financial slavery.
..., and all corrupt Politicians. From the Philippines it's the same. The People / Citizens are the ones Paying for Liars called leaders of country.
Not our problem. Get better leaders.
You are so right.
Your country didn't ever have great leaders. @@SMILYSUNFLOWER
Imagine how much of russian money is in Dubai...
It's definitely less than what Swiss bank has.
Imagine Dragons
The problem with Dubai is that they have nothing of interest. It’s just rich people with poor taste and some malls.
Switzerland has beauty, culture, history and tradition, none of which money can buy.
Russian money? Nah, try the drug cartels
@@CarpeDiem13xyes switzerland did impose more sanctions than the EU. do you have any evidence there's still this type of money here? it's only peanuts. a few millions nothing more.
Switzerland is so neutral not even ethic considerations are affecting their business decisions 😂
That's capitalism and greed, no other considerations, just money and power. The fact that Switzerland partakes in such immoral and destructive dealings shows they're assuredly not neutral, just less visible in who they support, authoritarians and the ultra rich.
Not neutral just follow the money...
@@Wisteria__Lane Good luck with that...
I mean, that's exactly what's being neutral is.
@@Wisteria__Lane … like being a safe haven for mafias, drug trafic, murderors, dictatores,fraudster, tax evaders, oligarcs?
London and Switzerland have fostered an environment that facilitates the laundering of money. They have established an infrastructure that shields and promotes these financial wrongdoers.
Indeed, the Formation House (now the London Office) leak exposed that company which registered and operated companies for clients included organized crime groups, state-owned oil companies, and fraudulent banks. The investigations revealed the firm ran a web of companies registered in Hong Kong, Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands and Pakistan helped clients avoid anti-money laundering rules and had created banks in The Gambia in an attempt to create a tax haven. According to The Times, there was no evidence that Formations House did anything illegal but their investigation highlighted worrying vulnerabilities in the UK’s defenses against money laundering.
What about Dubai
yes, and so? nothing will happen. lets enjoy the show and try to make more money for ourselves as well
Can you elaborate on how Switzerland has „created“ such an environment?
People tend to think, Switzerland or Swiss citizens would profit from it while completely ignoring that the reasons for foreigners to deposit money here is the security and trustability in Switzerland and that is has been safe and stable for many decades.
Yes, the possibility to deposit foreign money here and keeping most information secret was also a reason in the past. But the Swiss voted to abandon the bank secrecy principle and this is no longer a reason to deposit money here. Same rules apply here as in most other western democracies since then. But again, it‘s about security and stability.
So does Canada. Authorities here turn a blind eye as so many of the rich and powerful benefit and it helps to drive industries like real estate and construction. Most of the banks do not follow federal laws when it comes to prevention or reporting. The ‘Vancouver Model’ of money laundering (implemented throughout the country) attracts criminals from all over the world.
Honest Russians with Swiss bank accounts? I am positive that Swiss are aware of the salaries in Russia, so those honest Russians worked some few hundred years to accumulate their wealth...only to store it Swiss depositories 😂
well why should we freeze their assets? if there isn't any proof that it was obtained illegally or is used to fund a war it shouldnt be frozen
Russia is acountry with 144million people, surely one can imagine that this makes it possible for billionaires to arise in finance, entertainment, pharma, weapons industry, aerospace etc.
@@stadex4203not with honesty my guy. You can't become a millionaire let alone a billionaire being a honest guy. It's just works in movies only
@@stadex4203 No they didn't. When the Soviets where forced to privatize their industries in the early 90s where did all the investment come from? Who was managing all the international business relationships? Putin was the main contact guy in St. Petersburg if you wanted to get into business with Russia. After Putin toppled Yeltsin in a soft coup, he went to work and nationalized Russian's biggest cash cow, the energy and mining sectors and put his long term allies and former KGB functionaries into the main seat of those companies who also happen to have expended their Russkiy mir into the European energy market which of course got them well connected to politicians, lawyers, realtors and bankers who started working on their behalf. Putin was such a good customer and honest play, regardless the Chechen, Georgian, Ukrainian and Syrian Wars and the aggressive speech towards the West in Munich, he got appeased with the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Soccer World Cup and a spot in the Formula 1 circuit.
Bring those honest and well qualified Russians to Europe and give them the opportunity to make a life outside of the dictatorship and that way work against the Russian government.
Switzerland “Neutrality” its means anybody can have business here even the N4ZIS did and that’s a historical fact.
💯
Will Said
Ignorant BS. Try opening an account there.
@@kg6370 All that gold was just mined from the alps, I'm sure /s
@@kg6370 very easy to open an account there but not with every bank.
If it isn't in Switzerland or went thru London to some tiny islands it is probably in Dubai...
@@michaelgroe2074
Maybe Dubai, but definitely in the Caribbean safe havens, like the Cayman Islands and other Islands. $$$ billions go to dummy corporations there !
Nice racket if you can get it !
Cyprus is even more likely.
The Swiss lawyer complains that the sanction is in English - not an official language in Switzerland - and therefore incomprehensible, but has a sign on his desk that reads "Pay your lawyer in due time!" (40:45). How do you think the Swiss can afford the Gotthard Tunnel?
Don’t worry about that! We Swiss always find ways😘🇨🇭. Customer Satisfaction guaranteed🫡
@@NineteenstarsaboveDid stalin have a swiss account?
@@movement2contact i do not confirm nor deny. If such information exist, its confidential😘🇨🇭
I have hearing impairment and this loud obnoxious background music is making it difficult to understand the dialogue.
He's protecting the hand who pays for his Cuban cigars and it's inflationary price. Wonder if he does like Swiss chocolate? 😂
London competes for this money.
Yup, London and its offshore banking network, of which Dubai is a major participant .
London does not compete.... London Rules in this area lol
Don't forget New York's tradition of laundering money through real estate. Though I guess they learned that from London as well.
@@farsalami8605 Yup, between offshore banking , and the Rothschilds' 500 Trillion @BOE, I would say London is the ultimate "ground zero" for Globalists, n'cest pas. ???
The lawyer who is against the sanctions and who smokes his big cigar tells it all. This guy is using casuistries to defend his shady clients.
Ask yourself why he was recorded with a cigar and the other guy arguing for sanctions seemed like a modest and honest guy trying to fight crime. Such a fine propaganda.
@@anyetitan8410 Come on this interview was not done surreptitiously without his prior knowledge. These are preplanned interviews because as you know lawyers have their own schedule. And no one asked him to smoke a cigar. Contrary to what he says sanctions can and do work if people like him in the west do not help their shady clients to circumvent the sanctions. For your information it is because of sanctions that the Iranian regime came to the negotiating table and the nuclear deal was signed in 2015. And why should the Russians put their money in the west because they say the west is decadent? They should walk the talk. Don’t see propaganda everywhere.
@jma2570 First of all, confiscation of property and freezing of accounts is illegal because its not in the ambit of international law for a nation or bloc to seize property and freeze accounts just because another state is not comforming to agenda. What if the assets of Americans are confisticated in china because the US invaded Iraq under the guise of false claims of possession of WMD. Nations can terminate trade with other nations as they see fit, but not seize assets and freeze accounts of individuals just because you claim they are oligarchs. Remember, with all these sanctions, the USA still buys uranium from Russia, and Russian gas still finds its way to Europe. If you don't see propaganda in the Western media then i don't know what qualifies as propaganda to you.
@@anyetitan8410 Perhaps because he put a cigar in his mouth to stop other nonsense from slipping out. The dual citizen school graduate could give up his second nationality if he wants to be against this war. Cigaro is money laundering for an oligarchs family in case you didn't see beyond his smoke screen.
Why has Switzerland never been invaded Just follow the money 🤑 💰 💵 😢❤
@@stadex4203 wow how naive are you. It's all about man power if we take nukes out of the question. Play more multiplayer games, they simulate it very well. Resources like energy, all types of guns, ammunition is not a problem for any country nowadays.
@@jungle1smass1ve video games? lol ok
just take a look at russia, they are winning but not easily
numbers are not the end all be all and never have been
it's simple really; the more advantages you have, the better
switzerland is hard to invade because it is landlocked and high up in the mountains. there are not many routes you can take into switzerland, and many are via tunnels which can easily by blown up and made impassable, so the remaining few are not very hard to defend
one could say that air power could make the difference, which is true
but the swiss have always been aware that their outsized stature has always been quite irritating to countries around them, so they are quite keen on their militant pacifism
they are well aware of the military threats, and invest heavily in air defence
besides, many countries have loads of assets funnelled or kept in switzerland's many financial institutions
what do you do when something is hard and not worth it to get? you ignore it.
@@stadex4203 What happened when France invaded Switzerland? Did they all take a collective afternoon nap?
@@brendon1689 switzerland is landlocked.
@@QWERTY-gp8fd ? That's what i said?
Fun fact: An oligarch is a term used by the West to refer to Russian businessmen. Otherwise, all businessmen and top politicians from across the world have bank accounts in Switzerland.
Super rich, corrupt, criminal businessmen.
Before you make trivial fun fact statements you should have looked up the meaning of "oligarchy".
@@rambleon2838 Russia is not an oligarchy, after Putin took over. If that is what you wanted to say.
Oligarchs have nothing to say in the rule of the country. 100x less than it is the case in USA
@Booz2020🤣🤣
@@sabine8419name one businessman who isn't corrupt😂
Switzerland might hold some of their money, but countries like Germany are providing those oligarchs with those funds
Where can you find more info on Germanys contributions to the war
It's not only the Swiss. Putin has managed to corrupt most of EU politicians and bankers since he exiled Yeltsin. The most corrupted one must have been Merkel. Putin almost made heir the queen of Germany. She was in power for 16 years and probably still would be if Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine. She knew her time was up. Now, Putin is the longest elected leader in Europe and his boy Lukashenko holds the longest dictator of Europe title.
Regarding providing funds to oligarchs: We all did in one way or the other. Buying petrol at the pump or pay the gas heating bill, order made in China stuff from Amazon or vacation in India or Turkey. China, India and Turkey became the biggest Russian oil purchasers in 2023.
@@gome8148Germany is importing gas from Azerbaijan which is actually Russian gas rerouted through Azerbaijan so that they can avoid sanctions. And it’s not like this is disputed or secret, it all happens in the open so that Germany and other European countries can publicly state they don’t import Russian gas anymore which fun fact they still absolutely do.
@@strpet27 all of the west is using fuel that has been refined by china or india... but ask yourself this, if fuel supplies dry up, where will our industry in the west be?
its a supply chain with so many problems, you can't not be affected if you shut something down altogether... are you ready to slow global supplies, including food and medicine?
@@paladro Simple answer: We'll see stock markets crash, mass unemployment and investors, who always have this option might play this card, level go profit is essential, currently conducting Ukraine war on higher energy revenues is more profitable. .....we'll see !
36:33 awww it breaks my heart to see this injustice. Poor banker denied his profit margins from Russian oligarchs.
Western media love using oligarch word but never admit they have their own oligarchy especially in the US and Germany
Many American oligarchs are in congress. They earn their money from insider trading (which is legal if you're in congress). Not partisan either. Republicans and democrats both do it and resist any reforms.
Bezos, gates, elon all oligarchs.
In the West they call them Billionaires
Comment removed again.
@@anyetitan8410 yep. They all live off the fruits and inventions of the American people (taxpayers), who developed and paid for the INTERNET , NASA research and so much more.
And they still have the balls to call Africans corrupt....How dare you? 🤣🤣🤡🤡🙄🙄
The Swiss hired an African to run one of there most corrupt banks credit suisse
So your leaders aren‘t corrupt?
@@itzblvckhighlander1576 pot calling kettle black.
Yes. This is Good. But. A tip of the iceberg. Dubai is the new way to go 😢
When will the money of those wealthy people who invaded Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and other countries be confiscated?
Never
They always say Russia 😂 but others like UK , USA and etc are angels they do not steal and are not corrupt
Exactly
Whataboutism is hereabouts.
Never because those are the ones the Americans, British and EU likes.
I would bet more Russian money went to UK than Switzerland
i concur
Dubai is where it's at today
Dubai does not collect tax
UK was welcoming all Russian oligarchs since the 90s knowing perfectly well how they earned or rather stole the money from the Russian people. They didn’t care about democracy and human rights then.
Not anymore.
As a dual US/Swiss national, it's always entertaining to see the US act as the world's police (watch "Team America: World Police").
Let's make a documentary about the thousands of shell companies registered in Delaware that hide all kinds of assets. Let's also explore Miami's booming real estate market, fueled by stolen or laundered South American money, which seems to go unnoticed. We should delve into the illegal gun trade supported by US weapons manufacturers, which props up Latin American cartels. The list goes on…
It's always easy to pick on the little guy, but hard to look yourself in the mirror.
DW pushing its left agenda again.
no difference between right or left in the US when it comes to foreign policy of preying on the world
Your argument about the US doesn't cancel the fact that switzerland is a heavily corrupted country. The difference is that the swiss population profits from said corruption,
@@nelhern2677 how? did you know international assets are only 2.5% of the Swiss economy? educate yourself!
Nothing left about this video.
@raptorhacker599 both sides want bigger government in different ways. Each time a side wins, the American people lose freedom.
Great documentary.
"An innocent Russian with a Suisse bank account". Yeah, right
If you keep your money in Switzerland, Cyprus, Bermuda, Caymans, or Dubai and you aren't from there, you are probably shady or avoiding taxes.
Aww a jealous poor man
I would love to see how many European governments have got money in those Swiss account😮
not governments
Governments? That would be absolutely impossible, you are still living in a sort of 19. century of conspiracy theories.
@@henlohenlo689 Switzerland has become the proxy for dictators, warlords, absolute monarchs and oligarchs starting WWII. In order to avoid getting invaded by the Nazis they agreed on safekeeping all the Nazi loot and be silent about it. Since the Swiss guard also is the guard who protects the Pope, the Catholic Church became also a silent crime partner when they where forced to cut a deal with Mussolini.
get into the real world, comrade
How dare you?lol
Imagine how much American money is in Switzerland.
what's the problem with that?
@@Wisteria__Lane
None. Switzerland is a well-known tax haven. If you are rich, you will seek a tax haven place to protect and multiply your wealth. It's natural and totally normal human behavior.
But for some reason, the DW TV makes it as something bad. Especially when Russians do it. It's a classical double standard and hypocrisy.
But DW is a German national broadcaster and Germany is in NATO. Basically, Germany is a client state of Uncle Sam.
So Germany will do and behave as Uncle Sam wishes.
Hihihi 😂
lol what money? Too many regulations. Especially after the fall out of 2008. No Swiss bank takes Americans because they are “too risky” only UBS…or that’s what I as told. Which is kinda funny since they are the ones who bailed out credit suisse this last year at the behest of the fed.
I’m half Swiss, half American and I have to file taxes in the US. American citizens and dual citizens Swiss-American can’t hide money in Switzerland. Plus Swiss banks don’t like Americans as clients. The US has a contract with Switzerland where all Swiss banks have to report all bank accounts of American citizens to the IRS.
But why stop at "freeze"? Those assets ($300-B) should be seized & handed over to Ukraine for rebuilding their country.
so all of them? are you crazy? that's thief.
Ukraine is already sold to Black Rock
Yes. I agree ‼️👍 💯
Russia owns to Ukraine so much, that it must bancrupt 10 times. It is ukrainian money, no questions.
@@Wisteria__LaneYes, but thieving from thieves mostly.
Corruption must be bad if those were the best legal arguments the State Secretary was able to afford.
.
exactly.. what about euro-american oligarchs.? All war is between our rich and their rich.. not us...
.
Those were just lazy excuses for me, not even valid arguments. They make it seem like they are the only banking institutions in this world that face money launderers, therefore we do not know what they are going through. SMH!
@@rocketphewl yeah and the swiss wallow around in the blood money
@@paladrobased
@@paladroI'm Swiss and I've never done that.. you should check with your American friends that rank first on the financial secrecy index..
How ridiculous is that? They found a man with 500k Euros in Cash and 44 Million in gold (notably transferred to Dubai to make the point that Switzerland still is the bad guy. At the same time uncountable billions are being transferred through Dubai, Singapore and other places to support Russian oil and gas trades to the big guys (India and China) - which both are “tbtc” (to big to criticize). And btw, London has been the money laundering place and place to life for Russian oligarchs after Switzerland changed their money laundering laws in the 90ies and early 2000’s. Something they obviously forgot to mention in this cheap production.
London was only a vehicle to Switzerland or elsewhere. Your cheap comment shows you are close to the fire.
@@tomhermens7698 in case you refer to the fire of happiness, health, good schools, good roads, good income distribution and low taxes you are absolutely right. And btw, the finanince industry share of our total economy is only 16%. Have a good day!
Just wondering how many yachts and jets of American oligarchs were arrested in Europe following the US invasion in Iraq in 2003?
Heaven for Rich people around the world 🌎 not only Russia
Poor people money 💰 around the world 🌎 😢😢😢
Shame on Europe 🇪🇺
That's the flag of EU and Switzerland isn't in the EU...
The EU could do more to stop their own citizens from stashing their money in Switzerland to avoid paying taxes. It’s Switzerland that benefits from this shady movement of money.
@@asha8443switzerland automatically shares information on financial accounts to all of the EU.. how exactly are they avoiding taxes??
@@asha8443why to pay tax??? It goes nowhere anyway only to those that do not want to work.... Look at USA, ppl pay thousands of tax and yet medicine is not free, education not free ..why they pay such amount of tax if nothing in return???? Look at Dubai no tax and everyone happy
Poor Swiss bankers.. imagine having to do some work.
Swiss bankers earn a fortune! I’m Swiss and I know bankers earn a fortune plus they get huge bonuses.
Thanks for sharing this
Swiss Bank accounts is where everyone who wants to hide money can do so
They have the best advisors and shady people in high places
one nation is still better. check the financial secrecy index ranking.
Also, Grand Cayman! 🇰🇾
This is not true. British overseas territories are. Virgin Islands for example
The Swiss are not alone in that international shadow banking Bonzi scheme. There's an article in Politico that Swiss bankers and lawyers already start moving money around for their Russian clients to trusts on behalf of their wives or children or offshore to Cyprus or Dubai bank accounts well before the full scale invasion. Kremlin TV started talking about the envision 6-9 months before to prime the Russian audience. The West was asleep at the wheel and preoccupied with Covid-19 mandates, which seamed to be a coincident then, but today I have my serious doubts about it. This was well planned out between Putin and Xi as was planned out with Erdogan the 2015 opening of the refugee floodgate into Europe despite billions of euros sent to Turkey. The hostile take over of Honk Kong by China and the Myanmar military coup was not a coincident either. But, I shall digress.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), founded in 2006, released the Panama Papers in 2019 including the Formation House leaks in London. In 2022, the released The Russian Asset Tracker, The Israeli Team Jorge investigation, Narco Files and Cypress Confidential. All seem to have one purpose: hide money and corrupt democracies in the process. The Formation House (now London Office) stands out since they have legally found loop holes for anybody who needed to hide money in smaller British Commonwealth states or former such as Pakistan, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Gambia and British Virgin Islands. Malta and Monaco was mentioned in this report.
I just love how the Swiss are all about business
Yes, they are prefect in their own means :)
Swiss was never neutral, not even during WWII.
You should know what neutrality is... It's not participating in a military way.. Switzerland is neutral.
@ccii-ch6gf They hid Hitler's gold, that's why they never were invaded.
@@francisa751yes so what? that changed nothing to the neutrality
This channel never fails to disappoint
Switzerland bears a great responsibility for the underdevelopment of Africa, they helped them in their embezzlement by being a safe heaven. Imagine the effect it will have if EU and US did just what it's doing now against Russia in regards to all the stolen monies from Africa in the Swiss banks
I am glad you took this topic. Thank you!
a country without a principle.
Pecunia non olet?
one could argue, they actually are one of the most principled. Neutrality means neutrality, regardless ethics lol.
I disagree. Their principle is to make more and more money. It’s called greed.
Really? Think of all the people that were helped because of the Red cross. And don't forget all the peace summits that happened in switzerland. some ended wars like for Algeria. don't only see negatives.
@@Wisteria__Lane giving with one hand and taking with the other
If this is the case for Russia just image how much black money from U.S.A is flowing in swiss banks and how much monopoly US holds in west
Switzerland a HAVEN for ALL money? Investigative journalism, and not biased at all.
What are you crying about? They aren't saying that Switzerland is the only place it happens, just that a lot of it does happen there and is relatively unknown/uncared about by many.
@@ComradeCatpurrnicus You do sound like a cry baby though. Mr Relatively Unknown.
260 member banks in that obscure organization. How many banks even exist in Switzerland
Good doc...try complete with a doc about the 'other side'
Danke. Super 👍
Before any Russian assets are seized the US and UK assets must be seized first for the illegal Iraq war with over 1million dead Iraqis, give the money to Iraq war victims and refugees, that way the new legal principle will have a solid foundation in Western legal precedent. Or is that not wanted? Western legal principles only apply to foreign leaders and not our own?
Long live Kurdistan!!!
Why to Iraq? So isis can take it?
I LOLed at that Swiss lawyer defending his client that he's Justin an average Independent contractor building pipelines for Gazprom, who happens to know Putin personally. Just an honest Russian businessman who worked his way to the top by playing by the rules!
Now do American oligarchs
OK russian troll
And Israeli ones
America Is such a innocent country.....
@America is such a innocent country
@@JB-sf4pg So? It has nothing to do with the video. You are just trying to distract from your motherland RUssia.
The only law that matters in Switzerland is that of profit.
if it was switzerland wouldn't have imposed so many sanctions.. it's even on the unfriendly list of Russia.
if that was the case switzerland wouldn't be the third country applying the most sanctions against Russia..
All I see in this program is that the Swiss 🇨🇭 have followed the law and reported all suspicious cases . But I have seen nothing been done about Russian money been laundered though Dubai . 95% if russian money goes through Dubai
Because they are scared of Dubai due to the dealings in oil, gas and other products!
Bill Browder is a true American patriot. Hope he receives Presidential Medal of Freedom for all his work.
I like how the subject matter here is like 20 years late
if russian has 150 billions in swiss bank, how much do western politician have in swiss bank? 1000 billions? or 2000 billions?😂
As always, well done, DW! What a fascinating report.
Thank you for doing this work, great video!
Any sanctions to France, US etc… for bombing Libia ?
West is still waking up to Hiroshima and Nagasaki war crimes.
Haha come to Dubai habibi, you've seen nothing...
Bravi - keep up this fine work!
My family come from near Switzerland, baden-wurttemberg. According to legend, they russians came from russia to there because of the famcy french lifestyle and the healing wells.
All german people would like to live in Switzerland 🙏🏻🇨🇭🇩🇪
Yes you’re right because they destroyed their own country.
@@BrokenBritain4u; LOL 😅
They don't seize the yachts, they arrest them, not permitting them to travel. The seizure only happens once the case is ready for court.
Oligarchs are best people in politics, they gave their children alot of money and shares with other friends, here in London many Oligarchs families are living freely.
In Russia, they are called Oligarchs, in the West they are called Billionaires. Western Hypocrisy 🚮🚮🚮
Money removes all moral obligation
The old joke goes, "Switzerland is very pretty. It is amazing what criminal money, drug money, and Nazi money can do"
well this joke is very wrong :) International assets have never been more than 6% of the Swiss economy since the 90s. You still need to subtract the clean money and then you're left with dlrty money which is only a little part. Switzerland isn't rich because of that. 😊
God made it beautiful.
@@SMILYSUNFLOWERjewish gold made it rich
@@MA-or3ky yep, 200 million dollars worth of gold made the country the richest in the world. Very believable.educate yourself
Very good!
Why not boycott Switzerland ?
why? we're doing more than many countries..
@@Wisteria__Lane there is a reason any Swiss banker that lands in us soils spends time in jail
@@nunobartolo2908hmm propaganda? check the financial secrecy index. look who's first 😂
@@Wisteria__Lane more to assist criminals that is.
@@nelhern2677 like who? and keeping money safe in a bank account I don't really call that assisting. maybe indirectly
35:26 - If a son is harbouring the money of a father, then a sanction on their account is valid. Also the noted grenade on his desk at 36:33 tells you a lot about his view of others.
They are not oligarchs, but cleptocrats.
Less than 10% of Swiss GDP comes from finance and banking sectors!
The rest is from molten cheese and sheep hides?
yeah,because most of the deals are done under the table.....you think the cheese industry made the swiss economy prosper?
@@lszujojust educate yourself about the economy of switzerland. you will see it's much more than cheese and banks..
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER yeah,if you look into it there is absolutely nothing that would warrant to generate that kind of GDP......I understand that there is medicine production,you make watches and chocolate...i don't see how you make money off of internet via CERN,I mean no significant amount of start ups,virtually no cutting edge technology inventions/apart from some minor medical device/ no weapons made there.....just tell me what industry warrants a 700 billion $ GDP,because the things I listed above ain't cutting it...
@@lszujo switzerland is the most innovative country in the world, the 3rd most competitive with the 2nd most diverse and free economy with a strong labor force and high productivity.. Banks are only 5% of the gdp.
As Bert Brecht wrote: 'First comes the grub, then the morals'
Excellent documentary 👏
Thank you for your kind comment!
Always watching from Georgetown Guyana south America 🇬🇾🇬🇾
I was doubtful about taking Russia's frozen assets. Not anymore.
the west has turned to theft
Criminals".. help yourself yourself and say bye-bye to western financial system. Western countries have never been held accountable for their crimes in lybia, Iraq Vietnam the list is long.
Criminals putting sanctions against Criminals
Exactly!!
Swiss banks should not be allowed to do business in the West in general. Their business model is almost exclusively based on helping to legalize money from the criminal world(see Credit Suisse for example - most of the business was Russian oligarchs, dictators, drug cartels, etc).
erm no. maybe in the past
@ccii-ch6gf definetly.. or it would have all collapsed when banking secrecy ended. but assets keep rising since then.
absurdity. check the financial secrecy index.
@ccii-ch6gf The reports are out and this was still happening up to the point Credit Suisse filed for bankruptcy because the Russian oligarchs pulling money out cascaded to other clients(fears that they won't be able to pull their money out of CS if it goes bankrupt - resulting in more and more clients pulling their money out). Leaks of drug cartels, dictators, all kinds of criminal clients are Very recent
@@aliancemdyes, the leaks are recent but not the activities. they are from 10 years ago.
DW production quality is so great... good job!
Yes great " propaganda" productions
DW thanks a lot for a great documentary
This is actually pretty interesting. There is alot to consider from many points of view. However, in the end, Russia must loose this war. The damage for many innocent Ukrainians is death, and the damage for rich innocent russians may be sanctions.... Who should cry louder?
Great investigative journalism by DW 👍. Keep it up
Thanks for watching!
Klaus Schwab and the WEF lives there. What do you expect ?
This is very hard to watch because the background music is so intrusive. I’ve given up.
Alain Bionda appears to be a man of highly questionable character. His dislike of the label, "oligarch" definitely hints at his complicity with them. Don't savor a Cuban cigar during an interview regarding oligarchs circumventing sanctions.
you do not have any point, Russia is literally using china, india and other countries to do their businesses like exporting oil and gas to china and china will exporting it to USA and other Europe countries.
Reynders still hasn't seized the 300 billion USD Russian assets with Euroclear in Brussels. Why?
the lawyer is right, sanctions are absolutely unjust
Why?
The Swiss got their wealth from this business.
75% are employed in the services sector.
@@RUHappyATMwill you actually listen? France and the USA have 80% more employed in that sector. It's not only BANKS. Educate yourself about economics..
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER
Depends on how much your export earnings come from financial services.
If a larger part of your GDP comes from your financial services servicing foreign clients, that's a problem, especially with banking secrecy laws.
@@RUHappyATM it was 16% in 2023 what's the problem??
Switzerland adopting its normal wartime position.
Tell us more about western Oligarchs & where they put their money 🤔
In Swiss bank.
Definitely not in russia
The sheer amount of money these individuals have is a scandal in itself.
there are no good or honest billionaires
Nothing even close to that if the UAE families
Did not realise a court had decided that all these business people from Russia were guilty of crimes
There are reasonable reasons behind every person and their assets becoming sanctioned. Why invite and enrich those helping to fight a war agaist you?
anyone defending russia and russians so obviously these days: a russian bot or a traitor.
Now that the Swiss authorities have been put on notice about Finaport what actions have they taken???
00:00:00 Escalation of Sanctions against Russia
00:04:06 Russian Oligarchs in Switzerland
00:08:01 Challenges and Criticisms Addressed
00:12:01 Investigation findings on FP and related entities
00:16:57 Swiss-Russian Financial Controversy
00:21:39 Swiss Banks and Russian Assets
00:25:28 High-profile clients in PHA Port
00:29:40 Circumventing sanctions and asset management
00:33:38 Sanctions Impact and Legal Implications
00:38:28 Legal Defense Against Sanctions
The fastest way to absorb knowledge | Lilys AI
Excellent documentary. Sanctions will only work if there are no loopholes or workarounds - which is near impossible to achieve.
The EU should simply declare that they want to have full access to the names to the Russians accounts. Of course, confiscate their money. No mercy.
absolutely not
To each their own. The Swiss should be able to conduct business in whatever way they see fit. The EU is as or more corrupt than even the UN.
35:30 This guy talking about how bad it is that low-income households have to pay higher electricity bills 😂 the absolute comedy effect...
Bill Browder was an American national until ditched his citizenship. A good way to get out of taxes. He was a player in making money in the Russia when USSR dissolved. UK citizens not subject to taxes on worldwide income and off shore corps and trusts are common tools for tax avoidance plus lite touch regulations. Now to renounce US citizenship you have pay an exit tax if income and asset levels hit. It used to be free to renounce but Obama started charging money.
What's he a Citizen of now???
@@WalterVetterliuk where taxes are larger
Switzerland needs to change its banking secrecy laws.
They can do whatever they want, theyre not part of EU
@@TheAdamAdy Neither is my country (UK) since the insanity of Brexit but London is awash with dirty money from Russian billionaires who buy huge mansions.
You are obviously not very well informed about Swiss banking laws, Switzerland practices Information sharing for tax purposes for those accounts of foreigners who don't live in Switzerland. It is possible that loopholes exist but the laws will deal with that whenever they are renewed in the future.
@@TheAdamAdy thank u
@@stadex4203
I call BS.
The only way Swiss can become rich is by offering a financial service. How best to provide FS for foreigners than secrecy laws.
It's a land-locked country without much natural resources.
lol if only countries acted like this when the US invaded Syria, Iran, Libya etc
Don't forget London kids..
from the 370 billions of russian money, switzerland has 1 only 1 billion, that was stated in the last report.
Brilliant piece of journalism by the DW team.