Ranking: Swiss public sector shows susceptibility to corruption and lobbying
Switzerland in 7th placeth for the second consecutive year in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, but its overall score marks an all-time low for the country. Nepotism and opaque political lobbying are among the trouble spots in the public sector in Switzerland, according to the Swiss section of the international NGO.
This content was published on January 31, 2023 – 06:01
“In an international comparison, Switzerland does well,” Martin Hilti, director of Transparency Switzerland, told SWI swissinfo.ch. “It ranks among the top ten countries. That is good news. But it is very important to contextualize this result. We have our own corruption problems in Switzerland.”
The CPI ranking measures the perceived level of corruption in the public sector around the world. The international NGO found that Switzerland is among European nations that achieve historic lows on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). In the 2022 edition, Switzerland scored 82 points compared to 84 in the previous year. This trend is a very gradual decline. In 2016, Switzerland reached 86.
Denmark led the ranking. Finland and New Zealand took second place. The worst performers were the conflict-torn nations of South Sudan, Syria and Somalia, again earning the lowest marks. Overall, two-thirds of the 180 countries and territories surveyed did not even get the 50-point mark out of a maximum of 100. The higher the score – which is based on the assessment of experts and business people – the less vulnerable a county is to corruption.
“Even countries that top the CPI are stagnating as they fail to address deficiencies in political integrity frameworks,” Transparency International warned in its Europe press release. Switzerland “shows signs of decline amid concerns over weak integrity and lobbying regulations”.
Widespread nepotism
Hilti sees several reasons why Switzerland is lagging behind when it comes to fighting corruption in the public sector. To reverse the trend, the country needs to end “widespread” nepotism, improve conflict-of-interest management and better regulate lobbying, he says.
“We lack transparency – so that the general public knows which lobbyist is working with whom and for which interests,” he told SWI. “We lack regulation that guarantees that certain interests have more or less equal access to politics.”
Switzerland’s clean image has been tarnished by corruption scandals that have grabbed the headlines and court attention. These include the legal disputes of Geneva politician Pierre Maudet regarding the acceptance of illegal financial benefits in connection with a trip to Abu Dhabi in 2015 and an IT contract scandal at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The lucrative lobby mandates of the newly elected Federal Councilor Albert Rösti also caused a stir.
Hitli also calls for more transparency in the financing of political life at cantonal and municipal level, since most cantons and municipalities still have legal regulations in this area. Because Switzerland is a small country, close-knit communities sometimes fail to recognize conflicts of interest, such as when local politicians receive ski passes at a preferential rate.
And he blames problematic activities by lawyers – such as the formation of shell and offshore companies – for Switzerland’s failure to close loopholes and revise its anti-money laundering laws more consistently. The legal profession is well represented among Swiss parliamentarians.
“We have hard work ahead of us in Switzerland,” he emphasizes. “We can’t sit back and say, ok, everything is fine.”
Swiss banks surveyed
Swiss State Secretary Livia Leu painted a different picture at a roundtable discussion on corruption at the World Economic Forum (WEF) this month. Proud of Switzerland’s consistent top-ten ranking, she highlighted the country’s international efforts to fight corruption at home and abroad, including implementing Russian sanctions, saying Swiss banks were “overcompliing” on that front being.
“James Bond bad guys no longer have bank accounts in Switzerland because we’ve built a robust anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing system over the past few decades,” she said. “We believe that a healthy financial center is important for the Swiss economy, as is financial integrity. The financial sector accounts for about 10% of our GDP.”
Transparency International found that banks, while “generally better regulated,” figure prominently in almost every major money laundering exposé. It pointed to questionable practices at Switzerland’s largest bank, Credit Suisse, which the Suisse Secrets investigation has accused of siphoning public funds out of Venezuela and having shady clients such as a tycoon who orchestrated the Libyan uprising in July year 2021 had supported.
“The Swiss authorities must do more to promptly identify and sanction failures in the banking sector,” the organization said. “In addition, banking secrecy continues to prevent Swiss journalists from researching and reporting on cases of corruption and money laundering at Swiss banks.”
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