Post #318

Switzerland and Foreign Bribery [ Policy Review ] "Corruption is only bad if I am not involved" 🇨🇭 The image of Switzerland has always been double-sided: on one hand, the country is associated with banking, precision, and reliability — on the other, it has long been a haven for murky, two-faced deals and moral flexibility. 📄 Historically, many global commodity traders have been registered in Switzerland: Trafigura, Glencore, Vitol, Gunvor, and others. We have already written about Glencore and Trafigura who bribed officials in the DRC and Angola. But these cases only stand out in terms of publicity — offering bribes for market access is, in practice, a routine part of the Swiss trading model. 💵 It is enough to note that until 2001, bribes were officially a legitimate basis for tax deductions in Switzerland — the country was called a tax haven for a reason. After 2001, “facilitation fees,” as company accountants labeled them, were banned only if they involved public officials. If it involved a private person, the tax deduction remained legal all the way until 2022. ⛓️ While many developed countries began criminalizing foreign bribery in the late 1970s, Switzerland was unwilling to give up its competitive advantage — extremely permissive legislation. Only in 2000–2001, due to OECD obligations, did the country introduce corresponding criminal and administrative liabilities. 🍫 Even then, the alpine chocolate lovers were in no hurry. The first case in which a company was sanctioned came only in 2011. The first case holding individual managers criminally liable arrived much later — in 2025, linked to Trafigura’s bribes in Angola. 💲 Remarkably, Switzerland profits both from corruption and from fighting it. From 2011 to 2024, Swiss courts closed 14 cases, collecting around $945 million (fines + illicit profits). But unlike for instance the United States, Switzerland does not return these funds to the countries harmed by the corruption. A remarkable ability to find profit everywhere — whether by allowing companies to bribe officials abroad or by charging them for doing so. #PolicyReview Devils Below