Swiss Bank Secrecy Law Has ‘Chilling Effect,’ Says UN Expert

A controversial feature of Switzerland’s vaunted banking-secrecy rules has come under attack from a UN human-rights expert who’s urged the Swiss government to immediately review its statutes.

Anyone who divulges information on bank clients without justification to an outside source risks as long as three years in prison, according to Swiss law. But the problem with the law is that it provides for few exceptions and none for journalists doing their job or whistle-blowers acting in the public interest, says Irene Khan, the UN’s rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.