Practical considerations regarding the implementation of economic sanctions by Swiss financial service providers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practical problems which Swiss financial service providers face following the government’s decision to implement economic sanctions. Design/methodology/approach - The practical problems of implementation are based on the identified methods of circumvention in the first author’s empirical research on the mechanisms of money laundering. Findings - Secure anti-money laundering mechanisms promote the smooth implementation of sanctions. Despite the novelty of specific sanctions requirement, it is possible to have a supportive framework in place. Also, there remain a number of practical hurdles for Swiss banks to overcome, including the pressure on sanction alignment and the significant threat of noncompliance. Originality/value - The sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022 are largely examined either from a broad political perspective or from the finite details of a business consultancy perspective. This paper aims to reconcile both perspectives to illustrate how the concrete problems of sanction implementation becomes evident in the wider political picture.