From a French perspective, the Swiss bank Reyl is primarily known for having facilitated tax evasion by wealthy French individuals – the most notable among them being former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac. However, the small Geneva-based institution harbors other secrets, which are, perhaps, even less acceptable. An investigation by Le Monde, conducted in collaboration with several international media outlets, reveals that, until very recently, the bank housed funds of dubious origin owned by politically sensitive figures, without always respecting official safeguards against money laundering.

Among some of Reyl's most controversial clients are individuals with close ties to the clans that rule over certain former Soviet republics, whose fortunes have long fueled suspicions of embezzlement of public funds. For example, the bank managed a portfolio worth several million Swiss francs for the family of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev. It also held several tens of millions of Swiss francs for Dinara Kulibaeva, daughter of Kazakhstan's ex-autocrat Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Timur Tillyaev, the son-in-law of former Uzbek president Islam Karimov. Until 2023, Reyl also counted Leonid Reiman among its clients, a former Russian minister and adviser to Vladimir Putin, who has been cited in several investigations for massive cases of embezzlement, and the bank has also opened its vaults to figures linked to the Calabrian mafia.

These new revelations tarnish the respectable image that Switzerland tries to maintain. After every scandal (UBS, "SwissLeaks," "Suisse Secrets," etc.), the country strives to portray its banking sector's bad practices as a thing of the past. However, this investigation concerns accounts that are still active, or that were until very recently.

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