ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss attorney general’s office said on Thursday it had imposed a $1 million fine on Morgan Stanley’s Swiss operations for failing to do enough to prevent one of its client advisors committing qualified money laundering in 2010. In a statement, the office said the lender’s previous entity, Bank Morgan Stanley (Switzerland) […]
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Switzerland fines Morgan Stanley $1 million over 2010 money laundering case
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ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss attorney general’s office said on Thursday it had imposed a $1 million fine on Morgan Stanley’s Swiss operations for failing to do enough to prevent one of its client advisors committing qualified money laundering in 2010.
In a statement, the office said the lender’s previous entity, Bank Morgan Stanley (Switzerland) AG, was liable for failing to stop the advisor laundering assets originally stemming from acts of bribery in Greece.
The case concerned the late, former Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who was found guilty of money laundering by a Greek court in 2013, the office said.
Bribes laundered in Greece went to accounts of a straw man and cousin of Tsohatzopoulos at the bank in Switzerland, which led to a subsequent investigation, the office said.
The costs of the proceedings were also imposed on Morgan Stanley, which cooperated with prosecutors, it added.
Morgan Stanley (Switzerland) GmbH had informed the attorney general’s office that it would waive its right to oppose the penalty order, according to the statement.
(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Francois Murphy)