Swiss press freedom dealt blow in bid for overhaul of bank secrecy rules

TX AG

06/05/2022 16:23

By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi
    ZURICH, May 6 (Reuters) - Lawmakers blocked a bid to
overhaul strict Swiss banking secrecy rules on Friday in a blow
to freedom of information advocates seeking an exemption for
journalists and whistleblowers.
    Switzerland has been under fire over its press freedom rules
after a law introduced in 2015 led one of its leading media
groups, Tamedia, to bow out from an international investigation
into a trove of Credit Suisse  CSGN.S  client data, published by
a consortium of journalists in February as the "Suisse Secrets".
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    A parliamentary committee said it had struck down two
motions seeking to overhaul the bank secrecy rule that has drawn
U.N. criticism, which would have tasked the government with
"reversing the threat to press freedom and the protection of
journalists and whistleblowers" that had resulted from it.
    "From the point of view of the majority of the committee,
there is no need for legislative action because Swiss banks have
developed considerably in recent years with regard to the
prevention of money laundering and other white-collar crime,"
the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee said in a statement,
adding, without elaborating, a change of law would run the risk
of "encouraging public prejudgments against private
individuals".
    Introduced in 2015, the addition to Article 47 of
Switzerland's Banking Act states that anyone who discloses to
"additional persons" information originally obtained from an
employee or entity working for a bank in violation of bank
secrecy can be punished by up to three years imprisonment or a
fine.
    UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Irene Khan wrote to Bern in March to voice concern that there
were no explicit exemptions for journalists or whistleblowers.
    "This paralyses freedom of expression and media freedom, as
well as impeding the free flow of information," she wrote in a
letter seen by Reuters. 
    Switzerland's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva
said in a reply on April 29 that he was unaware of any recent
legal action against journalists and said Bern recognised the
importance of media freedom, citing its protection in the
country's constitution.
    He added that Switzerland is in the process of developing a
national action plan for journalists' safety.
    While the law had seen little public testing to date, it
became hotly debated after a consortium of foreign media outlets
reported Credit Suisse managed accounts for human rights
abusers, fraudsters and businessmen who had been placed under
sanction in the so-called "Suisse Secrets". Credit Suisse denied
wrongdoing.
    Swiss media group Tamedia declined participation in the
project, kickstarted when one person leaked information on the
Credit Suisse accounts to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung, saying
the legal consequences would have been "unforeseeable".

 (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; additional reporting by
Emma Farge, Editing by William Maclean)
 ((brenna.neghaiwi@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 77 35;))