1 million fine and confiscations for Mirabaud bank

The private bank Mirabaud has been slapped on the wrist by the Public Prosecutor's Office. This Wednesday, the Public Prosecutor announced that it had fined the financial institution, whose name was revealed by the Tribune de Genève , along with three individuals: a former executive, the former head of the compliance department (which oversees compliance with regulations), and a former manager.

The events date back to July 2020, when the Public Prosecutor's Office opened criminal proceedings against an unknown person for money laundering. It had been alerted by MROS, the federal office responsible for this matter. The latter had suspicions about assets held by a trust at Mirabaud.

The Public Prosecutor's Office placed the bank, one of its directors, and several employees under investigation. They accused them of receiving the funds from the trust, although they were likely to have been evaded from US tax authorities; of failing to properly identify their beneficial owner; and of failing to inform MROS that the money could have come from a tax offense.

All these facts potentially involved money laundering, tax fraud, lack of due diligence in financial transactions and violation of the obligation to report.

At the end of the investigation, as part of a negotiated settlement with the defendants, the Public Prosecutor's Office issued several convictions by penal order. The bank, found guilty of failing to exercise due diligence in financial transactions, was fined 1 million francs. Its profits from the disputed banking relationships, i.e., 12.7 million francs, were also confiscated.

A former executive and the former manager of the questionable accounts were each fined 250,000 francs for violating the reporting obligation. The former head of the compliance department was also fined 25,000 francs for the same reason.

In addition, the Public Prosecutor's Office confiscated 30 million francs from the assets held by the trust at Mirabaud. This sum will be used to fund state coffers. The remaining funds were partially dismissed. The tax fraud laundering charge could not be upheld: a forged document would have had to have been produced for the American tax authorities, which was not the case. However, it has been established that the money came from tax evasion—not a criminal offense in Switzerland.