Lawyer Monthly - December 2024

Contact Marcel Frey, LL.M. Counsel Prager Dreifuss AG Bellerivestrasse 201, CH-8008 Zürich Tel: +41 44 254 55 55 marcel.frey@prager-dreifuss.com www.prager-dreifuss.com records, witness statements) gives civil complainants a comprehensive picture of the events behind the scenes, which they can share with the prosecutors. Being actively involved in the pretrial proceedings at an early stage, while being mindful that the damages claim is a secondary concern for the prosecution, is an important step. This requires the civil complainant to comply transparently with any requests from the prosecution, especially those targeting the complainant itself (e.g., witness interrogations of staff or board members of the defrauded company), as the authorities have discretion in how to proceed with their investigation. Civil complainants must also remember that during the investigation phase, the public prosecutor is obligated to investigate both incriminating and exculpating circumstances with equal care. Have there been any recent legal developments in Swiss or international law that have significantly impacted the handling of white-collar crime and investigations? How do you see these changes shaping future cases in your practice? A frequent challenge in white-collar crime investigations is the issue of document sealing. Given that financial crimes are often perpetrated “on paper” (e.g., siphoning funds, bribing key figures, transferring and rerouting money to various bank accounts), being able to access these records is key to proving the crime. Accused parties and document holders may request the sealing of these records upon seizure by prosecuting authorities. However, to simplify and streamline unsealing proceedings, the revised provisions of the Swiss Criminal Procedure Code have limited the grounds on which document holders and accused parties may invoke sealing. These now include only documents used in communications between the accused and their defense lawyer; personal records and correspondence where privacy concerns outweigh prosecutorial interests; items and documents involving persons who may refuse to testify according to Articles 170–173 of the Criminal Procedure Code; and documents used in communications between other persons and their lawyers. Despite this limited list, requests by prosecution authorities to unseal records can still drag on, frustrating the investigation. Recent judgments by the Federal Tribunal underscore the legislator’s intention to reduce sealing proceedings to the fundamental issue of communications with attorneys, with other involved parties’ interests (such as the bank itself) becoming less relevant. This trend is expected to persist. A further legal change impacting civil complainants is that they are now required to substantiate and assign an amount to their civil damages claim earlier in the proceedings, before the main hearing. WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 69 Switzerland’s status as a financial hub means foreign prosecutors often suspect illicit funds are moved to Swiss bank accounts.

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