Watchdog says about 15 Swiss banks in money laundering 'red zone': report

Vienna

ROUGHLY 15 Swiss banks are in a "red zone" of lenders particularly exposed to money laundering risks, the head of Swiss banking watchdog FINMA said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.

Swiss federal prosecutors last week said that they have opened criminal proceedings against Zurich- based Falcon Private Bank for alleged failure to prevent suspected money laundering linked to Malaysia's scandal-tainted 1MDB fund.

Falcon is the second Swiss bank, after BSI, to face a criminal investigation by Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General over links to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The move is partly based on an investigation by F…