Switzerland is perceived as having one of the most honest business cultures in the world but there remain some causes for concern - and need for improvement, according to a recent EY report.

Switzerland gets a lot of heat for its bank secrecy laws and its financial sector is feeling the strain as governments seek to chase after alleged tax dodgers. But when it comes to honest governance in business, only three Scandinavian countries are deemed to be less corrupt than the Alpine state - although there are also causes for concern.

These are findings from a survey by EY, or Ernst & Young. It has found that corruption is particularly widespread in south-eastern Europe, stating that Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia occupy the top three spots in the corruption rankings. In these countries, 92 per cent, 87 per cent and 84 per cent of managers respectively are of the opinion that corruption is a daily fact of economic life.

In Switzerland, only 12 per cent of managers think corruption is widespread, placing the country fourth in the rankings. Only the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Sweden and Denmark fare better in this regard.

The perception of corruption in Switzerland rose slightly compared to two years ago, however. In 2013, 10 per cent of managers said that corruption was widespread.

Despite the positive figure, in terms of compliance – i.e., adhering to laws and directives – there seems to be a gap between ambition and reality in Switzerland. While the number of companies with internal anti-corruption directives is now at 65 per cent and no fewer than 26 per cent of Swiss companies took action against employees who violated these anti-corruption directives, just under a quarter of Swiss managers (22 per cent) think that there is widespread manipulation of financial results in Switzerland.

The trend is on the rise in Western Europe: 33 per cent (2013: 31 per cent) think that financial results are presented in a way that makes them seem better than they really are, the report continued.

When asked about their own company, the assessments in Switzerland are fairly sceptical – in some cases worse than their international peers. For example, only 20 per cent of those surveyed consider the ethical standards at their company to be good. The figure in Western Europe is 26 per cent.

Just under a tenth of managers in Switzerland (9 per cent) also indicated that there were negotiations with suppliers at their firms last year regarding retroactive discounts, bonuses or price reductions – exactly matching the Western European average.

EY surveyed just under 3,800 chief financial officers and heads of audit departments, legal departments and compliance departments from 38 countries, including 100 in Switzerland.