Last year, Switzerland's financial regulator dealt with more than twice as many money laundering cases as in 2015 and expects that number to surge, according to its annual report. This suggests that the Alpine state's efforts to block the flow of dirty cash are coming up short.

The regulator examined 22 cases of money laundering last year, a sharp rise from the nine it looked into in 2015. Despite extra efforts it has been making to curtail the flow of illicit money, the increase shows no sign of abating.

“Money laundering risks in Switzerland are increasing,” FINMA says in its annual report for 2016. The regulator adds that assets from emerging economies present fresh opportunities but also new risks for the Swiss financial market.

“It is often hard to determine the origin of the funds. That is why financial intermediaries need to identify, limit and monitor their money laundering exposure.”

Notably, FINMA mentioned its probes into certain Switzerland-based banks over their dealings with 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, Malaysia's scandal-ridden investment fund.

Authorities worldwide allege that crooked bankers, politicians and financiers have siphoned billions of dollars from the fund and used banks to cover their tracks.

FINMA says that it investigated around two dozen banks and commissioned reviews of institutions, leading to enforcement proceedings against nine companies. It has not made it absolutely clear, however, whether all of the probes were related to 1MDB.

In February, the regulator fined Coutts more than $6 million over “serious breaches” of money laundering regulations relating to 1MDB.

Last year, FINMA helped close down Swiss banks BSI and Falcon Private Bank in Singapore. Both were forced to shut shop in the city-state because they allegedly helped crooked clients funnel money from 1MDB.

FINMA says that last year it launched enforcement proceedings against several senior bank managers, four of whom were linked to the 1MDB scandal.

The Financial Action Task Force, the world's anti-money-laundering standard-setter, assessed Switzerland and its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing recently. The inspectors concluded that the Alpine state must undergo an “enhanced follow-up process”, as the FATF saw “room for improvement in certain areas, for example in the legal framework”.