Switzerland urged to do more to fight, penalize bribery

@ Didier Marti | Moment | Getty Images

A tramway car captured with blurred motion rushes through the Paradeplatz (Parade square) in the heart of Switzerland banking industry in Zurich at night.

A group of mostly rich, industrialized countries says Switzerland should do more to prosecute companies and apply tougher penalties for bribery.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also praised the Swiss Attorney General’s office for expanding the number of cases it’s investigating, pointing to a nearly six-fold increase in money laundering and bribery probes from 2011 to 2016.

The Paris-based group, which counts Switzerland among its 35 member states, on Tuesday issued findings from a year-long review of the Alpine country that has long been associated with shady financial transactions and as a haven for clandestine deal-making.

The OECD, among other things, urged authorities in Switzerland to improve protections for whistleblowers, reform its rules about legal assistance with other countries and ensure bribery sanctions are “effective, proportionate and dissuasive.”