With FIFA Scandal, Switzerland Raises Its Profile on the World Stage

The arrest of top soccer officials Wednesday on suspicion of engaging in racketeering and fraud while working for the sport's governing body may seem surprising in Switzerland, a country with a vaunted culture of secrecy. But analysts say the long arm of American justice had already been shaking up the country.

The arrests of several officials of FIFA, soccer's governing body, in a highly coordinated operation during which plainclothes Swiss officers raided a five-star hotel overlooking Lake Zurich, have a firm legal basis in both countries. U.S. law gives the Justice Department the authority to pursue cases against foreign nationals living abroad, even if there is only the slightest link to the United States. Equally, while Switzerland's extradition treaty gives Bern the right to reject demands to extradite people for tax crimes, Swiss authorities have agreed to hand over people for prosecution in American courts when it comes to matters of general criminal law.

Nevertheless, analysts say the move, which grabbed headlines across Switzerland, can also be viewed as part of a cultural shift in recent years. Switzerland has gradually, if not reluctantly, become more cooperative with foreign authorities as its banks and other companies seek to expand and flourish abroad, particularly in the United States.

Luc Thevenoz, director of the Center for Banking and Financial Law at the University of Geneva, noted that it was a rare case in Switzerland when so many foreign nationals had been arrested in such a public manner. But he emphasized that while cooperation over banking secrecy has been grudging, the Swiss have long been cooperative on general criminal matters.

"Switzerland outgrew its small-country attitude a long time ago," he said.

In the area of banking secrecy, a seminal moment was reached in 2009, when UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, agreed to hand over the names of 4,450 of its clients to U.S. judicial authorities, as well as pay a fine of $780 million for facilitating tax evasion. The degree of disclosure was viewed by many as an extraordinary and reckless break of client confidentiality.

American law enforcement officials have since charged dozens of Swiss bankers and financial advisers with facilitating tax evasion. And Swiss banks have gradually handed over names of dozens of their employees to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The increased willingness to cooperate with the United States in law enforcement was exemplified by the high-profile arrest in 2009 of film director Roman Polanski. In a move orchestrated by prosecutors in Los Angeles and Washington, authorities in Switzerland in 2009 arrested Polanski as he arrived at the Zurich airport, in connection with a 32-year-old sex case. After a year of courtroom wrangling, the authorities decided not to extradite him, in part because of doubts over the conduct of the judge in his original trial - but only after he was placed under house arrest on bail of $4.5 million.

Switzerland has extradited some people wanted for financial fraud by countries like Russia, despite criticism from human rights groups concerned that they would not receive a fair trial in their homeland. In 2005 and at the request of the United States, Switzerland arrested Yevgeny Adamov, the former head of the Russian atomic energy ministry. But after a long tussle between Washington and Moscow, which then also sought his extradition on embezzlement charges, Switzerland sent Adamov back to Russia to stand trial rather than to the United States.

Le Matin, a Swiss French-language newspaper, noted Wednesday that Bern was determined to avoid a "second Polanski affair," noting the FIFA operation was closely coordinated with American authorities. It said Swiss authorities had been traumatized by the Polanski case.