Reported by Ariane Luthi

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/swiss-lawmakers-push-back-anti-money-laundering-law-over-competitiveness-2025-09-11/)

Swiss lawmakers are seeking to water down government proposals to help prevent financial crime, saying the country needs to stay competitive in global cross-border wealth management where rival centres – including Singapore and the UAE – are gaining ground.

Switzerland is currently the world’s largest wealth management hub, but could lose that crown as early as this year, according to a forecast from Boston Consulting Group.

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The focus on Swiss competitiveness has intensified since the country was hit with a 39% U.S. import tariff by President Donald Trump, making lawmakers keen to find ways to strengthen the country’s economy.

The lawmakers say Switzerland needs to slow down its anti-money laundering drive on competitive grounds, an argument also used in other areas, including in the debate over proposed new capital rules for UBS (UBSG.S), Switzerland’s biggest bank.

The Swiss government’s anti-money laundering legislation seeks to implement requirements by the Financial Action Task Force, an international finance watchdog, which has called for countries to come clean on shell companies.

Barbara Steinemann, a federal lawmaker for the right‑wing Swiss People’s Party, told Reuters that for years, whenever there was foreign pressure on financial transparency, Switzerland dutifully implemented rules, driving up bureaucracy and eroding competitiveness, even as other financial centres held back.

“This is about a war between financial centres and economic interests,” she said. “The Americans and other European countries would like to take over our business.”