An attempt to change Swiss banking secrecy laws to exempt whistleblowers and journalists was blocked by lawmakers.
Two motions seeking to change the banking secrecy rule would have required the government to reverse «the threat to press freedom and the protection of journalists and whistleblowers» were blocked by lawmakers on Friday, according to a report from «Reuters» (behind paywall).
Press freedom rules that were introduced in 2015 and drawn criticism from the U.N. prompted a Swiss media group, Tamedia, to decline to take part in an investigation into a data dump related to Credit Suisse client data known as «Suisse Secrets».
The rules were an addition to Article 47 of the Swiss Banking Act which punished violations of banking secrecy with up to three years in prison and a fine. In March, the U.N. wrote the Swiss government expressing concern there were no explicit exemptions for whistleblowers or journalists, «Reuters» said.
Paralyzing Freedom of Expression
«This paralyzes freedom of expression and media freedom, as well as impeding the free flow of information,» the letter, seen by «Reuters», states.
For its part, the government took the position that no action was necessary. «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 about the prevention of money laundering and other white-collar crime,» according to a statement from the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee.
Moreover, such a change to the law would risk «encouraging public prejudgments against private individuals».
In February when the «Suisse Secrets» story was first published in Germany's «Sueddeutsche Zeitung», the heads of research desks at Tamedia wrote that «in no other democratic country is it a crime to report on such accounts, as long as the revelations are in the public interest.»
A member of Switzerland's Green party committee told «Reuters» after the measures were defeated that «I clearly see this as a missed opportunity.»
