Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

Reuters has reported that Swiss prosecutors said on Wednesday they are investigating allegations that an unnamed high-ranking Swiss official took a bribe from a U.S. client of UBS to help cover up tax fraud.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement the tax authority had filed charges against unknown persons which it was now investigating, without giving further details.

A U.S. client of the Swiss bank, which is at the centre of a U.S. tax fraud case, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using Swiss bank accounts to hide money from the U.S. taxman and said he paid a Swiss official $45,000 to help cover up the fraud.

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UBS is more and more disappointing. They had a video on Corporate Social responsibility, with the participation of Jermyn Brooks, Director Transparency International. It is no longer online but I have it as it is a very good example of the deceptive use of Corporate Social Responsibility for the good image while not respecting rules all the more than there are links between money laundering, tax evasion and financial regulation.

What Jermyn Brooks said is quoted in a brochure : “UBS was instrumental in creating the Wolfsberg Group, named after their own management training center in Switzerland. With the help of the anti-corruption organization, Transparency International, 12 of the worlds largest banks – banks which would normally be guarded about sharing internal procedures with their competitors, collaborated to develop and publish the “Anti Money Laundering Principles” called the “Wolfsberg Principles” …which have received worldwide recognition as good practice – filling gaps in national laws and regulations.”