Swiss Minister Signals Support Using Russian Assets for Ukraine

Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis signalled his country’s support for the idea of confiscating frozen Russian assets and using them for the reconstruction of Ukraine, putting him on a collision course with the country’s banks who hate the proposal.

“We cannot just take money that doesn’t belong to us just because we think this is morally right,” Cassis said. “The right to property is fundamental.” 

Swiss banks have been very critical of the proposal. Disregarding property rights in this way would undermine Switzerland’s position as a financial center, newspaper NZZ cited an unidentified banker as saying. Another called it the “death penalty” for Swiss banking.

Source: Bloomberg