President Says Gov't Attempting To Implement Russian Sanctions

Speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin President of the Swiss Confederation Alain Berset states that "We are doing everything possible to seriously implement sanctions on Russia." Berset's comments come days after the G7 issued a private dressing down of the Swiss gov't for failing to stop Russian oligarchs from evading sanctions.

• The FT reportsthat "A letter sent to the Swiss government, signed by G7 ambassadors in Bern on behalf of the group, as well as the EU’s ambassador, said Swiss privacy laws and other “loopholes” were being exploited by Russians to hide billions of francs in offshore assets."
• The letter, first published by Switzerland's Handelszeitung is dated Apr 5 and says that the amount of Russian assets frozen in Switzerland could be "significantly higher" than the CHF7.5bn stated by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, and that “Concern has emerged about the possibility that Swiss privacy provisions . . . could be used to cover the tracks of financial shelters [sic] . . . We also have concerns that law enforcement officials are blocked from investigating illicit financial structures . . . because of privacy protections,”.
• US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller stated on the issue that “Switzerland cannot call itself neutral and allow one or both sides to exploit its laws for their own benefit,”.