Swiss Lawyers Face Time‑Crunch in White‑Collar Cases

Switzerland’s top prosecutors say that old rules let criminals stall trials for years, hurting the country’s fight against financial crime. The Attorney General says that because evidence can be sealed for long periods, courts sometimes take up to fifteen years before a verdict is reached. In 2023 the court dropped charges against a former Credit Suisse compliance officer after the money‑laundering case was too old. A month later, a trial against Gulnara Karimova was stopped because the statute of limitations had passed. The chief prosecutor has been pushing for tougher action since 2022, winning convictions against traders and banks. Yet he points out that in about ninety percent of cases where evidence is sealed, the prosecutors win only after a long wait.He believes this delay is unacceptable and calls for faster access to digital data. The Swiss government is looking at closer ties with the European Union so that evidence can be seized quickly. However, lawmakers fear new rules could hurt Switzerland’s competitive edge in global wealth management. They have weakened proposals that would strengthen anti‑corruption tools, arguing the country must stay attractive to investors. International cooperation has helped improve money‑laundering cases. Switzerland joined a three‑country taskforce with Britain and France, and still works closely with the United States. The Attorney General says more cases are coming, but he cannot predict how long they will take.