Talk:Corruption in Switzerland

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Switzerland Mid‑importance

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Lead section needs to be rewritten

The lead section of this article states "Corruption in Switzerland describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Switzerland.". This states the obvious (that "corruption in Switzerland" refers to corruption in Switzerland) and needs to be rewritten with more information. TypoEater (talk) 18:49, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Edit summary for reversion of Special:Diff/1231055142/1231388630

Hello @Dark4tune:

I was not the IP editor that removed these two sentences

However, Berlin-based Transparency International ranked Switzerland as the world's 7th least corrupt country in 2021.[1] However, Transparency International is a German voluntary association with its founders themselves having strong ties to the Swiss banking sector.[2]

[1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-stumbles-in-anti-corruption-ranking/47287914

[2] https://www.faz.net/1.6803895

but I think that the IP editor was correct to remove them in this edit: Special:Diff/1184191615/1184836395 and I am removing them again by reverting your re-addition of them.

The first sentence misrepresents the cited source. The sentence appears to be talking about Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, where in the 2021 Index, Switzerland was ranked 7th on a list of 180 countries where the first country is best and the 180th is worst.

However, as noted in the cited source, the Corruption Perceptions Index does not attempt to measure corruption, because so much corruption happens secretly; rather, it attempts to measure experts' perception of corruption. More significantly, the Corruption Perceptions Index only attempts to measure the perception of corruption in the public sector, not in the private sector, where banking is found. So the first sentence, the one about the Corruption Perceptions Index, should not appear in the "Banking" section but instead the "Government" section and should read something like:

However, Berlin-based Transparency International ranked Switzerland's public sector as being perceived as the world's 7th least corrupt in 2021.

This information is already in the "Government" section, only it is the more current 2023 version:

On Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Switzerland scored 82 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Switzerland ranked 6th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.

I think that the IP editor who removed the two sentences recognized this redundancy and that is why they removed the first sentence.

The second sentence then deserves removal because once the first sentence is corrected, it no longer provides anything for the second sentence ("However,...") to contrast with:

...Berlin-based Transparency International ranked Switzerland's public sector as being perceived as the world's 7th least corrupt in 2021. However, Transparency International is a German voluntary association with its founders themselves having strong ties to the Swiss banking sector.

That is, rephrased:

...Transparency International said that Switzerland's public sector is quite honest. However, Transparency International's founders are Germans tied to Swiss banks, in the private sector.

The second sentence no longer contrasts with the first because they are now talking about quite different things.

Do you see what I am driving at?

Dieter.Meinertzhagen (talk) 06:50, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I understand, but do you believe Switerland's private sector is more corrupt than its public sector? Dark4tune (talk) 17:25, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Truly, all I know is what I read in the reliable sources. In particular, in the cited swissinfo.ch source, I read:

Switzerland’s most serious shortcomings fall in areas the [Corruption Perceptions] index does not measure, according to Hilti. He highlights the fight against money laundering, the regulation and transparency of political lobbying, and the protection of whistle-blowers as areas in need of urgent improvement.

“The main problems that we have in Switzerland are located in the private sector,” he says.

Martin Hilti is the director of Transparency International Switzerland.

Dieter.Meinertzhagen (talk) 03:16, 29 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I see, and the mention of "political lobbying" implies that the public sector is also under threat from Swiss banks. Dark4tune (talk) 04:19, 29 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]