The International Press Institute (IPI) and its global network today call for the urgent reform of Switzerland’s draconian banking secrecy laws to ensure that they cannot be misused to criminalize or silence public-interest news reporting.
The call comes as a group of investigative journalists working as part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) were threatened with criminal prosecution by a law firm over their reporting on scrutiny of the Swiss bank Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo and its clients.
Switzerland has one of the world’s most draconian banking secrecy laws. Under Article 47 of the Swiss Banking Act, passed in 2015, anyone who discloses confidential banking data, publishes information from a whistleblower, or even reveals that an individual has an account at a Swiss bank, can face up to five years in prison and a fine of CHF 250,000 (€266,000).
Under the law, journalists and media outlets who publish leaked information about topics such as tax evasion or money laundering of corrupt oligarchs, dictators or shady financial firms risk facing criminal charges and potential jail time, even if the information reveals illicit activity, is accurate and is in the public interest. Whistleblowers who hand over confidential information also risk prison sentences.
After the publication of the investigative journalism project Suisse Secrets in 2022 – which revealed how one of Switzerland’s most powerful financial institutions, Credit Suisse, had handled the money of controversial clients without proper due diligence – the government faced global calls to reform the law, including from the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion, Irene Khan.
Although the Swiss Federal Council initially supported a review of the law by the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation, this assessment was derailed and in 2023 the lower chamber submitted a new proposal which, rather than increase protections for journalists and whistleblowers, sought to make the secrecy law even more restrictive.
Fearing prosecution under Article 47, several investigative journalists who have been involved in publishing leaked Swiss banking files in recent years have spoken out about how they have been forced to avoid all travel to the country following advice from their lawyers.
The latest threat from the law came earlier this month, when a group of journalists working as part of the OCCRP revealed that they had been threatened with criminal prosecution under Article 47 of the Banking Act by Swiss law firm Schellenberg Wittmerer. The complaint stemmed from their reporting on how Reyl was facing scrutiny from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) for its connections with questionable clients, and some questions they sent to the bank.
The group of investigative journalists included Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier from Paper Trail Media, Edoardo Anziano and Lorenzo Bagnoli of IrpiMedia, Antonio Baquero, Miranda Patrucic and Tom Stocks of the OCCRP and Maxime Vaudano of Le Monde – many of whom were part of the award-winning Suisse Secrets project.
IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said: “IPI calls on Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo to direct its law firm Schellenberg Wittmer to drop its criminal complaint and to cease all efforts to threaten journalists with criminal prosecution. This shameful threat against renowned European investigative reporters underscores the need for the Swiss Parliament and Federal Council to urgently recommit to a reform of the Swiss Banking Act to introduce strong public interest provisions to protect legitimate journalistic reporting and whistleblowing.
“This case presents a clear example of how the lack of a public interest provision allows the Swiss Banking Act to be misused to criminalize legitimate, public-interest journalism. In its current form, Article 47 therefore poses a direct threat to whistleblowing and freedom of the press both in Switzerland, as well as to journalists around the world who report on public-interest topics, including the alleged storage of ill-gotten gains in Swiss banks. Reform of this law is long overdue to prevent misuse and ensure protections for journalists.”