Banks joins forces to combat money laundering

Swiss banking giant UBS AG is leading the way on this along with Transparency International, a Berlin-based non-governmental organization dedicated to increasing government accountability and curbing both international and national corruption. The guidelines are known as the “Wolfsberg Principles” after the UBS training centre where they were developed

UBS is joined by Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Chase Manhattan, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust, Société Générale, ABN Amro and Banco Santander Central Hispano.

The agreement is an effort to create a “global standard of due diligence” for banks which do business with wealthy individuals. Several of the signatories have recently been caught up in high-profile money laundering scandals, and the shadowy world of global private banking is believed to be particularly susceptible.

Also today the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has published, No Longer Business as Usual — Fighting Bribery and Corruption,a book that reviews the elements needed to build and preserve corruption-free institutions.