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Swiss Authorities Bag First Criminal Conviction Against Bank

By Gabriel Vedrenne

Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court handed down an unprecedented ruling on Dec. 15 in convicting Falcon Private Bank of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in embezzled money and other illicit funds, even as observers criticized the final sentence as too lenient. The conviction and sentencing of the now-defunct Falcon Private Bank, which operated from Zurich but closed shop permanently this year after authorities accused it of laundering billions of dollars stolen from Malaysian state fund 1MDB from 2012 to 2015, represents Switzerland's first against a financial institution. "Swiss authorities sent a clear message that they will now use all the...

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