London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Russians have up to $213 billion stashed offshore in Swiss banks

Russians have up to $213 billion stashed offshore in Swiss banks

Switzerland's secretive banks hold up to $213 billion of Russian wealth, the country's financial industry association estimates, as sanctions on Russia give a rare glimpse inside Swiss vaults.

The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) estimated that the banks hold between 150 billion and 200 billion Swiss francs ($213 billion) of Russian client money in offshore accounts.

This indicates that the extent of wealthy Russians' business with banks in Switzerland, the world's biggest centre for offshore wealth, is far more extensive than the on-balance sheet exposures several of its financial firms have begun to detail.

The SBA's revelation is rare for Switzerland, which has stone-walled many previous transparency requests, and comes as it took the unusual step of applying European Union sanctions to Russian cash following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last month.

There is growing Swiss public debate about its role, with Mattea Meyer, co-president of the Social Democrats, calling for Switzerland to clamp down on any cash belonging to Russians close to President Vladimir Putin and his government.

"Part belongs to oligarchs loyal to the Kremlin. The money and their activity ... helps finance the war," she said, adding that Switzerland "must do everything possible to turn off the money taps".

The SBA estimate, which dwarfs initial indications of the credit exposure to Russia, makes clear the scale of the task of imposing sanctions, such as by freezing the cash.

The Swiss economy ministry said that it had no meaningful estimates on frozen Russian assets as it tallies reports from banks facing a growing Swiss sanctions list.

Despite its Russian tally estimate, the SBA stressed that this was small compared to overall assets held in Switzerland, which has been regarded by generations of wealthy individuals from around the world as a safe haven for their money.

"The share of assets held for Russian clients likely accounts for a share in the low single-digit percentage range of the total cross-border assets deposited with Swiss banks," it said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Wednesday, referring to money held for clients residing abroad.

RUSSIAN RISK


As Western governments unleash a growing list of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion, banks are seeing their business with Russian clients scrutinized far beyond the loans they have granted or business done out of Russian subsidiaries that could lead to balance sheet losses.

Analysts have said direct Swiss bank exposures to Russian clients look manageable, based on what has been made public.

Switzerland's two biggest banks last week detailed "limited" exposures to Russia, with the largest UBS saying a $634 million direct exposure had been cut since year-end.

Credit Suisse Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein on Tuesday said some 4% of the assets Switzerland's second-biggest bank manages for wealthy clients belong to Russians, amounting to tens of billions of dollars.

That is far greater than the 848 million Swiss franc net credit exposure in Credit Suisse's annual report.

While the bank has not provided an updated tally, it managed 827 billion francs in its wealth management businesses at end-2021, so 4% would amount to some 33 billion Swiss francs in assets associated with Russian customers.

UBS and Switzerland's third-largest listed lender, Julius Baer, have declined to detail assets they hold for Russian customers, but UBS CEO Ralph Hamers indicated sanctions were keeping the country's biggest bank busy.

"New lists come out every night," he said, adding that UBS was looking to shield not only against current compliance but also against the risk of future penalties.

($1 = 0.9395 Swiss francs)

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×