>A senior lawyer who works for a private bank in Zurich says that, although egregious, the situation was hardly novel: it is widespread practice in Switzerland that independent wealth managers are given full power of attorney by clients.

>“We have clients where, basically, the authorised representatives, their financial advisers, do things like go and buy an expensive watch or whatever, and if we say, ‘No, don’t do that’, we will hear something back asking us why on earth we are making a fuss . . . They say they have given these people these powers, and it’s not up to us to decide what is reasonable or not.”