Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

Tax Justice Network has reported that the Swiss Federal Council has just published a new report, Strategic directions for Switzerland's financial market policy, which is predictable in its genuflection to Swiss bankers. Indeed, as the accompanying press release notes that "The Federal Department of Finance (FDF) prepared [it] in consultation with financial market players, defines goals and measures to further strengthen the Swiss financial centre. The responsibility of the Confederation is limited to the creation of an appropriate regulatory framework."

Like in Luxembourg public policies are influenced by the business community but with a huge difference: conflicts of interest are specific to the Luxembourg jurisdiction because of the small size, which explains the reason why the regulator does not do the job as it should in Luxembourg (See the Madoff affair for example and the influences on the regulator that are traced in CSSF sources)