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World power of the seas
: The largest shipping company in the world, MSC, comes from Switzerland
Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
The Swiss
Mark Pieth
(69) is an emeritus law professor.
He has made an international name for himself as an anti-corruption fighter, for many years he headed an OECD group on the subject and was head of a Fifa investigative commission.
In his new book "Seafaring Nation Switzerland" he plumbs the depths of the maritime trade together with co-author Kathrin Betz, also a lawyer specializing in commercial criminal law.
Pieth now works as a lawyer and consultant.
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Luminary :
Mark Pieth
became known worldwide
in his role as chairman of the FIFA investigative committee a decade ago
Photo: Walter Bieri / picture alliance / dpa
manager magazin: Professor Pieth, your home country, Switzerland, is far from the sea. Nevertheless, the world's largest shipping company MSC and many other shipping companies have their headquarters here. Why is that?
Mark Pieth:
There are probably two main reasons.
On the one hand, shipowners will find an environment in Switzerland that suits their business: commodity traders who place transport orders, banks for financing the ships and their cargo, insurance and the like.
On the other hand, they are probably attracted by a legal framework that one could – to put it politely – describe as very liberal.
And put it less kindly?
Put less nicely, it is the lack of any regulation and enforcement mechanisms.
The shipowners act practically uncontrolled, one could also say: in a legal vacuum.
And as a corruption fighter, I find that questionable.
MSC are apparently well received these freedoms. In your research, were you able to understand how the impressive rise of this shipping company under Gianluigi Aponte came about?
Little is known and little can be learned about the beginnings and the exact background of the rise of MSC.
Most are content with the portrayal that the founder himself spreads: the sentimental story of the sailor Aponte, who falls in love with the beautiful Swiss banker's daughter on a crossing and then goes into the shipping business with her on a very small scale.
For me it is particularly unclear how Mr. Aponte got his first hundred ships, after that such a business pays for itself to a certain extent. The only thing that is understandable is that he always worked in a way that was easy on capital, for example by chartering ships or selling and Lease back of new buildings.
How does Switzerland benefit from becoming a shipping nation?
Nobody here asks that question.
In any case, the tax benefit should be manageable.
The shipping companies are simply another building block in the Swiss economic system, with presumably well-paid jobs in Geneva and other cities.
So why did you devote an entire book to this industry?
I am turning against the ostrich policy in this country, which is already known from the banks.
There are also risks associated with the maritime economy: accidents, pollution, precarious working conditions at sea.
I would like to help ensure that we take a closer look and accept our responsibility.