Legal cover that keeps whistleblowers away from Swiss banks

As geopolitical tensions increase and threaten the stability of the global financial system, investigative journalists and whistleblowers have become more vital than ever. Yet Switzerland stands as an obstacle by criminalising the disclosure of client data — regardless of motive or public interest.

An article published by Project Syndicate argues that, behind Switzerland’s polished image of neutrality, the country is leveraging its banking-secrecy laws not to protect individual privacy but to “shield misconduct, muzzle journalists, and deter potential whistleblowers.”

At the core of this controversy is Article 47 of the Swiss Banking Act, which makes it a crime to disclose bank clients’ data, even when the leaked information exposes corruption, human-rights abuses, or illicit finance. Journalists and media outlets publishing such material can face up to five years in prison and heavy fines, while whistleblowers themselves risk similar punishment.

This is not hypothetical. The article highlights the 2022 “Suisse Secrets” investigation — a collaborative project led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung — which revealed leaked records from over 18,000 Credit Suisse accounts linked to clients involved in corruption, money laundering, and torture. Instead of investigating these individuals, Swiss authorities launched a criminal probe into possible breaches of banking secrecy.

Soon after, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion Irene Khan condemned the legislation as “an example of the criminalization of journalism.”

More recently, in June, Zurich prosecutors raided the home and office of Lukas Hässig, editor of financial blog Inside Paradeplatz, seizing laptops, phones, and notes. His alleged offense: using leaked bank data in his reporting on Pierin Vincenz, the former Raiffeisen Bank CEO later convicted of fraud. The article warns the message to reporters is clear: “those who speak out about financial misconduct at Swiss banks will be punished.”

“The law’s effects border on the absurd.” Neil Barofsky, a former US prosecutor hired by Credit Suisse to investigate its hidden Nazi ties, may not even share his findings with the US Senate, as doing so could breach Swiss law. This, the article argues, is not about protecting privacy but about entrenching secrecy at the cost of accountability and justice.

With the global financial system growing increasingly opaque amid mounting geopolitical risks, investigative journalism and whistleblowing remain essential. To expose sanctions evasion, oligarch wealth concealment, cross-border corruption, and organized crime, democratic societies must ensure insiders can speak out — and that the press can report on.

By Nazrin Sadigova