Switzerland – Draft Federal Act on the Freezing and Restitution of Ousted Potentates' Assets

Contrary to its undeserved reputation as a safe harbour for assets of dubious origin, Switzerland has a long established tradition of facilitating the freezing, confiscation, and restitution of funds diverted by unscrupulous leaders and their accomplices. Several billion dollars of embezzled funds have over the last 25 years been returned to countries such as the Philippines, Nigeria, and Peru.[2] In the wake of the Arab spring, the Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Gaddafi cases however highlighted what the Swiss government considers as legal shortcomings. To address them, it recently revealed a draft bill,[3] which commentators already describe as a worldwide novelty.