London’s ‘paradise’ for money cheats

THE City of London has become a “paradise for money launderers” because Britain’s legal system allows people depositing money to hide their identities behind a trust system, the president of the Swiss Bankers’ Association said yesterday.

“The consequence of this rule is that the authorities’ investigations reach no conclusions, because the banks really don’t know who their trust customers are,” Pierre Mirabaud told newspaper Berner Zeitung.

British and EU officials frequently attack Swiss banking secrecy as providing a haven for money launderers and tax dodgers.