SWIFT CFO Francis Vanbever Calls For EU And US To Address Issue Of Developing Framework In Response To Data Privacy Concerns

The SWIFT Chief Financial Officer, Francis Vanbever, has urged Parliamentarians for renewed EU US dialogue on the issue of developing an improved framework to reconcile data privacy concerns with today's pressing security concerns. Vanbever was briefing Members of the European

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The SWIFT Chief Financial Officer, Francis Vanbever, has urged Parliamentarians for renewed EU-US dialogue on the issue of developing an improved framework to reconcile data privacy concerns with today’s pressing security concerns. Vanbever was briefing Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on SWIFT’s compliance with compulsory subpoenas issued by the US Department of the Treasury to SWIFT’s US branch. The compulsory subpoenas required SWIFT to transmit a limited subset of its stored message data to the US Treasury in connection with the US’s ongoing terrorist finance investigations.(See: “SWIFT Caught Between Belgian And US Law, Concludes Official Report Into SWIFT Investigation By US Treasury”). Vanbever stressed that while the hearing concerned the subpoenas and how SWIFT had responded to them, the underlying question was how to balance the need for personal privacy with the duty to ensure personal security. This required transatlantic cooperation and political leadership.

SWIFT says that it had ensured that its compliance with the US Treasury subpoenas was legal, limited, targeted, protected, audited and overseen. SWIFT also did its utmost to comply with the data protection principles of proportionality, purpose and oversight.

“SWIFT takes strong exception to the opinion of last week’s Belgian Data Privacy Commission advisory report that we had not fully respected Belgian and European data protection laws,” says Vanbever. “However, SWIFT strongly endorses the call for renewed cooperation between the EU and the US.”

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