[ISN] Swiss Banks Achilles Heel Is Workers Selling Data

[InfoSec News]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=akmcfUr7TqHs&pos=11

By Warren Giles
Bloomberg.com
Feb. 2, 2010

(Bloomberg) -- Swiss banks are discovering that the biggest threat to 
client privacy is their own workers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday her government may buy 
stolen data on Swiss bank accounts as French authorities comb 
information acquired from an employee of HSBC Holdings Plc's private 
bank in Geneva. The cases come two years after Germany paid 5 million 
euros ($7 million) for details filched from LGT Group in neighboring 
Liechtenstein.

"This is a kind of business war against Switzerland in which practices 
which were completely illegal have become acceptable," says Daniel 
Fischer, founder of Zurich-based Fischer & Partner law firm who 
specializes in banking law and fraud. "It's a huge danger for Swiss 
banks."

The willingness of governments to pay for stolen data is fanning 
tensions with France and Germany as Switzerland seeks to negotiate 
treaties implementing its commitment to cooperate with international tax 
probes. The Swiss government said last month it will draft a law barring 
officials from assisting foreign countries in cases involving theft of 
client details.

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