"Many countries have laws that require the reporting of all deposits of certain amounts (in the US, it's $10,000) to the government anyway."
This is of relatively little importance in case of tax havens and offshore institutions eager to accept dirty money, as they are usually located in the independent countries (such as Vanuatu) that have no obligation to pursue the wrongdoers provided the crime was committed abroad and the customer is not wanted or blacklisted by international organizations (such as Interpol or UN). This was also the case of Switzerland (it is and independent country and not a member of EU, EEA, EEC or NATO). Sure, some level of precaution should be maintained by any self-respecting villain, but hiding the ill-gotten gains in such banks is way easier than in most other financial institutions in, say, Europe or US.
"Many countries have laws that require the reporting of all deposits of certain amounts (in the US, it's $10,000) to the government anyway."
This is of relatively little importance in case of tax havens and offshore institutions eager to accept dirty money, as they are usually located in the independent countries (such as Vanuatu) that have no obligation to pursue the wrongdoers provided the crime was committed abroad and the customer is not wanted or blacklisted by international organizations (such as Interpol or UN). This was also the case of Switzerland (it is and independent country and not a member of EU, EEA, EEC or NATO). Sure, some level of precaution should be maintained by any self-respecting villain, but hiding the ill-gotten gains in such banks is way easier than in most other financial institutions in, say, Europe or US.