Switzerland, on the 'grey list' of tax havens, saw a surge in suspected activities related to money laundering in 2008, with assets worth Switzerland an all-time high $ 1.65 billion involved in them.
After the world's top 20 economies resolved to crack down on tax havens worldwide at a meeting here last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) named Switzerland among countries not having substantially implemented international tax standards.
This classification put Switzerland on the 'grey list' of tax havens, but Switzerland reacted sharply to such descriptions and said it was not actually a 'tax haven'.
However, the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) has said in a report that the number of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in connection with money laundering jumped from 795 in 2007 to 851 last year.
This included nine related to suspected terror financing and involved assets worth over one million Swiss francs ($ 884,600).
"The increase was due mainly to the greater volume of reports from the banking sector, which reached a new record high. The total value of assets involved doubled to reach an all-time high of CHF 1.87 billion Swiss francs ($ 1.65 bn)," the FDJP said in a statement.
In 2008, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) received 851 SARs, with nearly 67 per cent of them coming from the banking sector. Among them, most were related to investment fraud.
The statement noted that third on the list of offences was bribery related to individual corruption, which, due to their complexity involving numerous businesses, generated several SARs.
"Although the acts of corruption took place abroad, the suspected bribe money was deposited in Switzerland," it added.
Interestingly, Opposition parties in India have said that assets worth about $ 1.5 trillion are stashed away in Swiss banks by Indian citizens.
The FDJP said that in the CHF 1.87 billion, three SARs totalling CHF 700 million ($ 620.5 million) are involved. Among them, two cases involved fraud while the other one was related to corruption.
This included a single report involving an asset value of 942,000 Swiss francs ($ 834,999) and the case was forwarded to the appropriate prosecuting authority, which subsequently dismissed the case.
"None of the incoming SARs relating to terrorist financing was based on the State Secretariat for Economic Affair's so-called Taliban Regulations.
"All but one SAR with an unclear economic background were based on information received from third parties (press reports, information from third persons or prosecuting authorities) indicating possible terrorist involvement.
"After careful scrutiny, MROS forwarded seven of the nine SARs to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, which has in the meantime dismissed or suspended three of the cases. Four cases are pending," the statement noted.
Agencies
Showing posts with label OECD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OECD. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Will the Internet economy shrink in 2009?
The Internet economy could shrink in 2009 because of the worldwide downturn, the OECD warned on Monday in a report that forecast contraction of the semiconductor industry and cutbacks by corporate customers.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that "with the outlook for the global economy worsening and business and consumer confidence plummeting, growth will remain flat or decline in 2009."
The report also forecast growth of four per cent in the IT industry this year and said some sectors such as software, outsourcing, Internet sales and infrastructure investments would "weather the storm better than others."
The report said the semiconductor industry - seen as a leading indicator for the information technology sector - would fall nearly six per cent in 2009 after weak growth of 2.2 per cent in 2008.
Source: Agencies
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that "with the outlook for the global economy worsening and business and consumer confidence plummeting, growth will remain flat or decline in 2009."
The report also forecast growth of four per cent in the IT industry this year and said some sectors such as software, outsourcing, Internet sales and infrastructure investments would "weather the storm better than others."
The report said the semiconductor industry - seen as a leading indicator for the information technology sector - would fall nearly six per cent in 2009 after weak growth of 2.2 per cent in 2008.
Source: Agencies
World jobless total could rise by 25 million?
The global economic crisis will push up unemployment by up to 25 million by 2010, the OECD head forecast on a 'truly scandalous failure' of regulatory supervision.
"We're heading for a loss of between eight and 10 million jobs in the OECD area... and 20 to 25 million in the world as a whole between now and 2010," Angel Gurria said on France's BFM radio.
The International Labour Organisation earlier forecast that the number of global unemployed could go up by 20 million to reach a record high point of 210 million people by the end of 2009.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris brings together 30 countries, including all the world's industrialised economies. The group conducts research and publishes economic forecasts.
Gurria also said that European countries should spend more in stimulus plans to kickstart their economies and suggested that the European Central Bank should lower interest rates because of falling inflation.
The European Union should "go beyond" the fiscal stimulus plans already announced, equivalent to around 1.4 percent of GDP, since "all the other major countries are going beyond that," Gurria said.
He also said that the OECD economies were in recession in the current quarter and would remain so for at least the first two quarters of 2009, with many countries being in recession for most of 2009.
"We predict a recovery at the end of 2009 and weak growth in 2010" he said.
Commenting on the build-up to the crisis, Gurria said there had been "a truly scandalous failure of regulation... and supervision", and poor risk management and corporate governance by companies.
Meanwhile there was fresh movement to stop the meltdown, with a decision by US president-elect Barack Obama to add 500,000 jobs to a 2.5-million-job creation goal to kickstart the world's biggest and ailing economy.
Vice president-elect Joseph Biden also confirmed the Obama team was working on a second economic stimulus package. According to US media, they want to craft a package worth between 675 and 775 billion dollars over two years.
In Europe, the Irish government said it was injecting 5.5 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars) to recapitalise three major banks: Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to create at least 100,000 new jobs through a 10-billion-pound investment in infrastructure, in a newspaper interview.
The Bank of England's deputy governor John Gieve said in an interview with BBC television that the bank under-estimated how serious the credit crunch would be even though it knew that "crazy borrowing" was taking place.
Gieve said the Bank of England had predicted a correction as far back as two years ago but he added: "We didn't think it was going to be anything like as severe as it turned out to be."
Source: Economic Times
"We're heading for a loss of between eight and 10 million jobs in the OECD area... and 20 to 25 million in the world as a whole between now and 2010," Angel Gurria said on France's BFM radio.
The International Labour Organisation earlier forecast that the number of global unemployed could go up by 20 million to reach a record high point of 210 million people by the end of 2009.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris brings together 30 countries, including all the world's industrialised economies. The group conducts research and publishes economic forecasts.
Gurria also said that European countries should spend more in stimulus plans to kickstart their economies and suggested that the European Central Bank should lower interest rates because of falling inflation.
The European Union should "go beyond" the fiscal stimulus plans already announced, equivalent to around 1.4 percent of GDP, since "all the other major countries are going beyond that," Gurria said.
He also said that the OECD economies were in recession in the current quarter and would remain so for at least the first two quarters of 2009, with many countries being in recession for most of 2009.
"We predict a recovery at the end of 2009 and weak growth in 2010" he said.
Commenting on the build-up to the crisis, Gurria said there had been "a truly scandalous failure of regulation... and supervision", and poor risk management and corporate governance by companies.
Meanwhile there was fresh movement to stop the meltdown, with a decision by US president-elect Barack Obama to add 500,000 jobs to a 2.5-million-job creation goal to kickstart the world's biggest and ailing economy.
Vice president-elect Joseph Biden also confirmed the Obama team was working on a second economic stimulus package. According to US media, they want to craft a package worth between 675 and 775 billion dollars over two years.
In Europe, the Irish government said it was injecting 5.5 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars) to recapitalise three major banks: Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to create at least 100,000 new jobs through a 10-billion-pound investment in infrastructure, in a newspaper interview.
The Bank of England's deputy governor John Gieve said in an interview with BBC television that the bank under-estimated how serious the credit crunch would be even though it knew that "crazy borrowing" was taking place.
Gieve said the Bank of England had predicted a correction as far back as two years ago but he added: "We didn't think it was going to be anything like as severe as it turned out to be."
Source: Economic Times
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