While welcoming efforts by Swiss banks to block assets of sanctioned Russian individuals, more needs to be done, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller said in an interview with the «NZZ Magazin» (in German).

Miller said Switzerland's reaction to sanctions so far gives him «confidence» and echoed a report last week that 7.5 billion Swiss francs have already been blocked, which «by now it should be quite a bit more,» he told the magazine. 

More to Do

Still, he warned there is more to do. «The Swiss authorities are also helping us to make it clear to the banks that the U.S. Department of Justice is involved in this matter and that there will be negative repercussions if the assets of the sanctioned individuals are not located. We do not take this lightly,» he stressed.

Joining the Task Force

Miller was also asked about the Swiss joining the «Task Force» launched by the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Justice which counts the U.S., U.K., EU, and a number of other countries that agreed to increase cooperation to target Russian Assets.

«We have had discussions about this with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). We would very much welcome Switzerland joining the task force. And we offer Switzerland our support should it need it. It is a challenge for any country to implement a sanctions package of this size and complexity. It takes time, and we respect that,» Miller said.

Miller 42, was also employed at UBS as an account vice-president at UBS wealth management in Denver, Colorado.