Swiss Crime Prevention National campaign against fraudulent investment schemes
int/ext Communications, Switzerland
Swiss Crime Prevention (known by the German acronym SKVP) develops national
crime prevention campaigns. SKVP has commissioned int/ext Communications to
design and implement a campaign against fraudulent investment schemes.
The campaign has varied objectives:
It aims to give people confidence in their investment advisers that is appropriate
to current practice.
It should also enable potential investors to recognize fraudulent sales
pitches.
The recommended rules of conduct should enable investors to assess the risks
inherent in investment offers.
The first step was to win the support of the following strategically important
partners for the campaign:
the cantonal justice and police departments,
the Federal Banking Commission, Money Laundering Control Authority,
the Federal Office for Police,
the Swiss Association of Accountants and
Trustees and the Swiss Association of Asset Managers.
These will lend considerable weight to the campaign messages. As Peter Giger
of SKVP puts it: "What is new about our campaign is that it networks information
from partners in the public and private sectors for a specific purpose and makes
the data acquired accessible to all parties."
The campaign materials are in French, Italian and German.
Brochure: This handy brochure contains the nine
most important rules of conduct for investment transactions. This is available
at all police stations and bank branches.
Website: The website www.stoppbetrug.ch
contains both the rules of conduct and links to lists of financial intermediaries
that have been officially inspected. Those interested can also do a test to
find out if they are adequately prepared to cope with swindlers.
Posters: The campaign is being advertised on
small posters for display in police stations and elsewhere.
National media conference: There was a media
conference held in Berne on August 30, 2001, which also marked the official
launch of the campaign.
Talks: Representatives of the various professional
associations involved are giving talks throughout Switzerland on this subject.
The campaign's graphic design was created by Dan Horath of Lucerne.
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