Ad
New York 11 September 2001: what happened here is still sending ripples through Europe, MEPs were told (Photo: Wikipedia)

Finance chiefs blame 9/11 for EU bank snoop affair

Belgian financial company SWIFT and the European Central Bank (ECB) have told MEPs they did nothing wrong in a secret deal to send European bank data to the US, with Washington's war on terror putting increasing pressure on EU civil liberties since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"We are still convinced we conformed with European laws," SWIFT finance boss Francis Vanbever told MEPs in a hearing on Wednesday (4 October), calling for an international convention to clarify data protection rul...

Get EU news that matters

Back our independent journalism by becoming a supporting member

Already a member? Login here

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.

New York 11 September 2001: what happened here is still sending ripples through Europe, MEPs were told (Photo: Wikipedia)

Tags

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.

Ad
Ad