The Swiss Federal Court yesterday ordered that the records held by UBS Bank on its business ties with Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman be released to the country's Attorney-General's Office (AGO).
It further ruled that the documents can be used in criminal proceedings against the bank.
International non-governmental organisation, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), in a statement today welcomed the Swiss Federal Court's decision, saying that it expects UBS to be charged with money-laundering in relation to Musa's case.
It was reported in November 2014 that Swiss prosecutors had confiscated confidential bank records on UBS' relationship with Musa, who is alleged to be involved in a US$90 million corruption scandal for allegedly collecting bribes for granting logging concessions of tropical rainforest in Sabah.
The alleged deposits for logging concessions were collected through UBS Bank accounts in Singapore and Hong Kong.
This follows a complaint under criminal law filed by the BMF, resulting in the Swiss AGO opening criminal proceedings against the bank in 2012.
BMF said the decision yesterday came despite the bank's public announcement that it was fully cooperating with the investigations where it is alleged to have key documents on its relationship with Musa and refused to share them with the prosecutors.
“The bank argued that no accused could be forced to testify against itself, an argument which the Swiss Federal Court refused to follow in this case.
“The court stated that the investigation of this grave case of international corruption and money-laundering justified the release of the relevant bank records to the prosecutors.
"The judges also said that bank records fielded for regulatory purposes must be made available to prosecutors in criminal proceedings,” the BMF said.
Sarawak Report, which had earlier exposed Sabah's timber corruption in a series of articles in 2012, also confirmed the decision.
Suspicious money
It alleged that through a network of companies, businessman Michael Chia, son of a business associate of Musa, was involved in the matter that led to Chia being arrested in Hong Kong with a bag full of millions of dollars in cash, just before the Sabah state election.
The arrest prompted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to launch investigations into the matter.
Sarawak Report had in numerous exposé showed how this contributed to the otherwise unexplained wealth of Musa and his brother, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
With the Swiss Federal Court's decision, Sarawak Report said UBS was likely to be questioned on why its Singapore branch was willing to accept such suspicious money.
“The decision looks set to throw further crucial light on the practices of Malaysia’s corrupted ruling politicians and the facilitating role of global banks and off-shore entities.
“It is also the latest in a series of landmark decisions, which indicate that potentially important new steps towards stronger regulation against major kleptocracy could start to be achieved through global efforts on the part of regulators.
“If so, it would be to the benefit of poorer communities in areas of low accountability by political elites,” the report said.
UBS head of strategic communications Susanne Mühlemann confirmed with Malaysiakini that the bank had taken note of the Swiss Federal Court decision and "will analyse its ramifications and impact carefully".
The bank argued that it initially sealed the records as it believed that documents produced for and on behalf of the bank's supervisory authority should not be made available to a criminal prosecution authority investigating the bank.
Malaysiakini is still awaiting a reply from Musa's office.
