Requests for reviewing the rules relating to banking secrecy, questioned following revelations last February, were rejected.
Le Monde with AFP
A Swiss parliamentary committee rejected Friday, May 6 requests for reviewing the rules relating to banking secrecy, questioned following revelations in February of a press survey on the accounts of CREDIT Swiss.
After hearing the arguments of the banking sector and experts in financial crime and media rights, the members of the Commission rejected the appeal to modify the law, said a statement from the Parliament. “The majority of the commission did not deem it necessary to intervene at the legislative level,” she said.
The Economic and Fiscal Affairs Committee of the Swiss Parliament had been invited to examine requests for revising the legislation after the publications in February of the vast “Swiss secret” investigation. Led by dozens of media organizations from around the world, including Le Monde, the survey revealed that the Credit Suisse, the second largest bank in the country, had for several decades hosted from the funds of sulphurous customers. The Credit Suisse categorically rejected the “allegations and innuendos” of the investigation.
article 47 at the heart of the debates
The survey also highlighted article 47 of the Swiss banks law, which makes the revelation of bank leaks a crime punishable by five years in prison. According to experts, this law of 2015 silenced journalists who may want to denounce reprehensible acts within a Swiss bank. Thus, if 48 press companies around the world participated in the “Swiss secrets” survey, no Swiss media took part because of the risk of criminal proceedings.
The Economic and Fiscal Affairs Committee of the Swiss Parliament has highlighted the progress made by Swiss banks in recent years in the fight against money laundering and other economic crimes. Today, “they are in accordance with international standards”, indicates the declaration.
She also warned against the fact that a change in the law could lead to “public accusations targeting individuals”, without giving more details. And the members of the Commission stressed that “no journalist had so far been sentenced to having violated Law 47”.