The U.S. Department of the Treasury activated Section 311 against MBaer in February, according to major media reports. U.S. authorities accuse the bank of transferring more than one hundred million dollars via the U.S. financial system on behalf of illegal actors linked to Iran and Russia, as stated by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. According to FinCEN, MBaer served as a critical access point to the dollar market for sanctioned networks and became a channel for transactions linked to Russian politicians, Venezuelan corruption networks, and Iranian oil traders. The U.S. government describes MBaer as a small private Swiss financial institution with only a headquarters in Zurich, and U.S. authorities allege it has been involved for several years, directly or indirectly, in money laundering related to Venezuelan corruption and illegal Russian and Iranian activities.
MBaer was founded in 2018 by Michael Bär, an heir to the Julius Baer banking family, and grew rapidly to about 1,000 customers at its peak, according to major media. The bank is also subject to a procedure by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma). Finma states that MBaer has filed an appeal in a federal administrative court, preventing Finma from implementing its own measures against MBaer Merchant Bank SA. MBaer has stated that it is carefully reviewing the announced measures and will protect its interests. A public consultation procedure is open for 30 days.
The specific evidence for the alleged $100 million in illicit transactions has not been disclosed by U.S. authorities. The outcome of the 30-day public consultation procedure and the details of Finma's procedure against MBaer, including the status of the appeal, remain unclear.