Swiss parliament rejects bid to return 1MDB-linked profits

ZURICH: Switzerland’s parliament rejected yesterday a bid to amend the law handling illgotten bank profits seized by authorities that had aimed to return more than US$100 million (RM390 million) linked sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to the Malaysian people.

Champions of the campaign had acknowledged they faced an uphill struggle to get the idea through parliament, whose lower house shot the plan down at the request of the government.

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told lawmakers the measure was too broad and violated the separation of powers between the government and the courts. He said current law allowed repatriation of assets seized from toppled regimes.

He cited an accord signed with the World Bank in December under which Switzerland would return to Nigeria about US$321 million in assets seized from the family of former military ruler Sani Abacha.

Confiscated bank profits from dubious deals are a different story. Normally they flow into the general Swiss budget.

The Swiss campaign led by centre-left politician Carlo Sommaruga and nongovernmental organisations wanted to hand back more than US$100 million money forfeited by Swiss banks in the 1MDB case.

Financial watchdog FINMA has confiscated Sfr104 million in illicit profits from 1MDBrelated deals by banks BSI, Falcon Private Bank and Coutts & Co since mid-2016. The BSI and Falcon cases are still under appeal. – Reuters