Switzerland presses ahead with transparency register after Liechtenstein hack

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, Aug ‌31 (Reuters) - Switzerland ​said ​on Monday it will go ahead with plans to publish a corporate transparency registry in October, ‌despite calls from an industry group to reconsider ⁠based on fears of a cyber attack like one in neighbouring Liechtenstein ‌last month.

Hackers illegally accessed ‌and copied data from Liechtenstein's register of beneficial owners during the night of July 29-30, compromising information relating to ​about 31,000 companies, foundations and trusts, the principality's government said earlier this month.

"Should an incident similar to ⁠the one in Liechtenstein occur in Switzerland, it would cause immeasurable reputational damage to ​the Swiss financial and business centre, quite apart from the serious legal consequences that would ​follow," the Swiss Association of Wealth ‌Managers said in a letter to the Swiss Justice Ministry dated August 24.

Such a register ⁠would create an "extremely attractive target for cybercriminals", according to the letter seen by Reuters that also called for stricter access.

However, the ⁠government said on Monday that it would proceed with the October 1 ​start date mandated by a new federal law and that it had foreseen various measures to ensure the "highest possible level of protection".

Switzerland, ‌a major wealth management hub, has previously said that a central register is needed to ‌strengthen the prevention and prosecution of financial crime and to ⁠preserve its reputation as ‌a financial centre.

Swiss lawmakers ​already watered down new money laundering curbs over competitiveness concerns.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Miranda ‌Murray)

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