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Increasingly, Swiss companies have been the target of investigations by US regulatory authorities. Swiss companies are faced with several statutory provisions when responding to a foreign authority's request for information or document production. Those statutory obstacles need to be overcome irrespective of whether a Swiss company is fully (or even voluntarily) cooperating with a foreign authority.

In a recent ruling the Zurich District Court qualified the exploitation of advance knowledge of an upcoming client transaction to one's own advantage (ie, so-called 'front running') as management fraud. The court found an asset manager working for insurance companies and pension funds and his accomplice guilty because they took positions in securities to capitalise on upcoming client transactions and then sold these securities at a gain.

Providers of financial services have until March 31 2000 to fulfil their obligations under regulations to prevent money laundering. The regulations cover keeping records, training staff and helping official investigations