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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...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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