G7, EU increase pressure on Switzerland over Russian assets

GENEVA

In a letter, the G7 countries and the European Union leveled serious accusations against Switzerland, saying Bern is insufficiently implementing sanctions against Russian assets, Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger reported Friday.

The letter bears the signatures of the ambassadors of Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada, the EU and the US, according to the report.

The letter is said to make numerous accusations, suspicions and insinuations against Switzerland, according to Tages-Anzeiger. Among other things, Switzerland is accused that its data protection regulations could also be used to mix up the traces of "parked assets."

Furthermore, the G7 countries express concern in the letter that privacy protections would prevent law enforcement agencies from investigating "illicit financial structures."

In the letter, the ambassadors of the G7 countries and the EU demand "further steps" from Bern. Specifically, Switzerland should take measures to distinguish between the "protection of privacy in legal matters" and the misuse of the same to "protect beneficial owners," the report continued.

The ambassadors also accuse Bern of not having blocked enough Russian funds. Independent sources estimated the total value of Russian assets in Swiss bank accounts to be well above the 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.4 billion) frozen so far.

The letter also directly calls on Switzerland to join the so-called Repo Task Force. "It is regrettable that Switzerland has so far decided against full participation in the task force," the letter reads.

The task force would better position Switzerland to identify, freeze and, if necessary, expropriate assets of sanctioned Russians, the ambassadors' letter said.

"Repo" stands for "Russian Elites, Deputies and Oligarchs" -- the organization was founded in March 2022. In addition to the G7 countries, the Repo Task Force also includes EU countries and Australia.

As the Swiss daily NZZ reported on Friday, the Swiss government has now handed over the letter to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs for further examination. A reaction from the government is still pending.

However, the Swiss state secretary for economic affairs had already firmly rejected similar accusations from the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday.