Swiss watchdog probed 22 money laundering breaches in 2016

SINGAPORE (April 4): Swiss financial watchdog FINMA investigated more than twice as many breaches of anti-money laundering rules in 2016 as it did a year earlier, the supervisory body said on Tuesday.

The number of investigations rose to 22 from 9 in 2015 "particularly in connection with international corruption offences", the Bern-based organisation said in a statement.

In 2016, Swiss banks were central players in the scandal surrounding Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, one of the world's biggest ongoing white-collar crime cases.

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