L’enquête « Suisse Secrets » relance le débat sur la liberté de la presse face au secret bancaire

LE MONDE : Aucun média suisse n’a participé à l’enquête internationale sur Credit Suisse, par peur des répercussions judiciaires. La loi bancaire de 2015 menace les journalistes de cinq ans de prison.

La protection du secret bancaire peut-elle justifier des restrictions à la liberté de la presse dans une démocratie ? Tel est le débat virulent qui s’est emparé de la confédération helvétique après la publication, dimanche 20 février, de l’enquête « Suisse Secrets », qui a révélé la présence de dictateurs et de criminels parmi la clientèle du prestigieux Credit Suisse.

La presse et une partie des responsables politiques se sont rapidement fait l’écho de l’absence de journalistes suisses dans le consortium de 48 médias internationaux qui a révélé le scandale. Une incongruité liée au risque que fait peser l’article 47 de la loi bancaire suisse sur les journalistes qui exploitent des fuites de données bancaires – jusqu’à cinq ans de prison.

Le groupe Tamedia, éditeur des journaux 24 heures, Tribune de Genève et Le Matin, a ainsi expliqué avoir dû renoncer à participer à l’enquête, car « le risque juridique était tout simplement trop grand ». Les dirigeants du Monde, de la Süddeutsche Zeitung, du Guardian et du consortium d’investigation OCCRP (pour Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – « Projet de rapport sur le crime organisé et la corruption », en français) ont quant à eux lancé un appel à la liberté de la presse, pour mettre en garde contre une éventuelle application de cette loi à leurs journalistes. » | Par Jérémie Baruch et Maxime Vaudano | mardi 22 février 2022

Revealed: King of Jordan Used Swiss Accounts to Hoard Massive Wealth

Queen Rania and King Abdullah. Composite: Rex/Shutterstock
THE GUARDIAN: Leak shows King Abdullah was beneficial owner of at least six Credit Suisse accounts

In 2011, as popular revolts reverberated around the Middle East, a monarch in the midst of it all made some banking decisions. Sometime that year, as neighbouring Egypt and Syria withered in the face of momentous civil protests, King Abdullah II of Jordan opened two new accounts with Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank that had discreetly served the region’s well-heeled for decades.

Abdullah, one of the world’s longest-serving current monarchs, had chosen a banker that shared his approach to secrecy, particularly surrounding his personal wealth. Over the next five years, the king was the beneficial owner of at least six accounts with Credit Suisse, while his wife, Queen Rania, had another.

According to a massive trove of data leaked from the bank that names both royals as account holders, one account would later be worth a remarkable 230m Swiss francs (£180m).

At home, King Abdullah had been experiencing a rocky ride. The revolts, which came to be known as the Arab spring, led to leaders being toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and a brutal, protracted war breaking out in Syria. Jordan, one of the region’s more efficient security states, was able to stave off a threat from a nascent opposition, through suppression of dissent and promises of better days.

But in the decade since, a struggling economy, persistent levels of poverty, high unemployment, cuts to welfare and seemingly ever-present austerity measures have continued to stir resentment across the country. One particular gripe has been the juxtaposition between the apparent wealth of the king and the constant grind endured by most citizens just to get by. As the IMF agreed to bail out Jordan, on the condition that its people tighten their collective belts, the king was moving enormous amounts between his Swiss accounts. » | Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent | Monday, February 21, 2022

Wherever you look, to whichever country you turn your sights, the rich élite are playing the people for fools! And we, the people, the fools, are playing along with their game. – © Mark

Leak Shows Credit Suisse Has Handled Dirty Money for Decades | DW News

Feb 21, 2022 • Credit Suisse is facing allegations that it has been handling dirty money for decades. An investigation led by German daily the Süddeutsche Zeitung has revealed that Switzerland's second-biggest lender knowingly managed hundreds of millions of dollars for suspected war criminals, corrupt autocrats and drug dealers. That's according to an investigation by a consortium of over 40 media organizations worldwide. The Swiss bank says it rejects the insinuations about its purported practices.

Related links.

Revealed: Credit Suisse Leak Unmasks Criminals, Fraudsters and Corrupt Politicians

Composite: Doug Chayka
THE GUARDIAN: Massive leak reveals secret owners of £80bn held in Swiss bank / Whistleblower leaked bank’s data to expose ‘immoral’ secrecy laws / Clients included human trafficker and billionaire who ordered girlfriend’s murder / Vatican-owned account used to spend €350m in allegedly fraudulent investment / Scandal-hit Credit Suisse rejects allegations it may be ‘rogue bank’

A massive leak from one of the world’s biggest private banks, Credit Suisse, has exposed the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes.

Details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world are contained in the leak, which unmasks the beneficiaries of more than 100bn Swiss francs (£80bn)* held in one of Switzerland’s best-known financial institutions.

The leak points to widespread failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse, despite repeated pledges over decades to weed out dubious clients and illicit funds. The Guardian is part of a consortium of media outlets given exclusive access to the data.

We can reveal how Credit Suisse repeatedly either opened or maintained bank accounts for a panoramic array of high-risk clients across the world.

They include a human trafficker in the Philippines, a Hong Kong stock exchange boss jailed for bribery, a billionaire who ordered the murder of his Lebanese pop star girlfriend and executives who looted Venezuela’s state oil company, as well as corrupt politicians from Egypt to Ukraine.

One Vatican-owned account in the data was used to spend €350m (£290m) in an allegedly fraudulent investment in London property that is at the centre of an ongoing criminal trial of several defendants, including a cardinal. » | David Pegg, Kalyeena Makortoff, Martin Chulov, Paul Lewis and Luke Harding | Sunday, February 20, 2022

Datenleck bei der Credit Suisse: Die Bank soll über Jahre korrupte Politiker und Kriminelle als Kunden akzeptiert haben: Der Credit Suisse bleibt derzeit nichts erspart. Am Sonntag hat ihr ein internationales Journalistennetzwerk vorgeworfen, sie habe über viele Jahre korrupte Autokraten, Kriegsverbrecher und andere Kriminelle als Kunden akzeptiert. »

« Suisse Secrets », révélations sur l’argent sale caché au Credit Suisse : ENQUÊTE Dictateurs, réseaux criminels, espions : « Le Monde » et quarante-sept médias ont eu accès à des informations issues de milliers de comptes, montrant que le fleuron bancaire suisse a hébergé des milliards pour le compte de clients sulfureux. »

Vast Leak Exposes How Credit Suisse Served Strongmen and Spies: Leaked data on more than 18,000 accounts shows that the Swiss bank missed or ignored red flags. »

Credit Suisse denies wrongdoing after big banking data leak: Credit Suisse has hit out after a massive data leak has brought to light the hidden wealth of several clients of the bank. »

Crédit Suisse mis en cause par une massive fuite de données : L'établissement financier est accusé d'avoir hébergé plusieurs milliards d'euros liés au crime et à la corruption. »