SWIFT offers "unparalleled access to international transactions"

International News Desk

The European Commission came under fire from MEP's during a plenary session of the Parliament over concerns from "millions of Europeans" that the “Terrorist Finance Tracking Program” that has been tracking and intercepting bank transactions from European based SWIFT is an invasion of European citizens privacy and an abuse of human rights.

London MEP Claude Moraes who addressed the Parliament said:

"We in this house must ensure that delicate balance of protecting the fundamental rights of European citizen’s freedoms and the importance of the continued fight against terrorism".  

Another MEP expressed her concerns that the European Commission had debated the issue behind closed doors and said:

"Why is the American government trying to get information on us in Europe?  The issue is about transparency and this entire debate should be made public, the citizens of Europe demand this transparency".

At present the European Union has in place an interim agreement under negotiation between the EU and the United States on data transfers via the SWIFT network. MEP's have attacked the European Council for not encompassing the concerns of European citizens in the agreement.

Background to TFTP and SWIFT

The question of SWIFT first arose in 2006 when the press revealed that the US administrative authorities were accessing data held by the Belgium-based financial network on European citizens without the knowledge of the European authorities.  

Following pressure by the European Parliament and some Member States, certain guarantees regarding privacy were given and the USA undertook to ensure that the data collected was used purely for anti-terrorist purposes.
 
In July this year, the press disclosed that a new accord was to be negotiated following a change in the structure of SWIFT. The Civil Liberties Committee had asked for details from Jacques Barrot, Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, before organising a more far-reaching debate this week.
 
The head of SWIFT, Lázaro Campos, said "today's debate is not about SWIFT but about cooperation between Europe and the United States" and argued that the new architecture of the financial network, which will include a storage centre in Switzerland for European data, "is a key factor in the security of our clients".

The post-9/11 measures of the United States include the introduction of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program which has the ability to access the SWIFT transaction database, revealed by The New York Times in June 2006. It was part of the Bush administration's "Global War on Terrorism". Based in Belgium, SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) establishes common standards for financial transactions worldwide.

What prompted the United States to introduce TFTP?

Following the 9/11 attacks the White House decided to "choke off funds" to known terrorist groups the following quote underline the attitude of the Bush administration on the issue:

"Since immediately following 9/11, the American government has taken every legal measure to prevent another attack on our country. One of the most important tools in the fight against terror is our ability to choke off funds for the terrorists. We know the terrorists pay attention to our strategy to fight them, and now have another piece of the puzzle of how we are fighting them. We also know they adapt their methods, which increases the challenge to our intelligence and law enforcement officials."  - Dana Perino Bush Depute Press Secretary 2006

How SWIFT operates

The SWIFT transactions are held on a database and were described by the New York Times as "a rich hunting ground for government investigators". The New York Times report said :

"Swift is a crucial gatekeeper, providing electronic instructions on how to transfer money among 7,800 financial institutions worldwide. The cooperative is owned by more than 2,200 organizations, and virtually every major commercial bank, as well as brokerage houses, fund managers and stock exchanges, uses its services. Swift routes more than 11 million transactions each day, most of them across borders."

What TFTP entitles the United States government to do?

1.  To track money from a bank account i.e. of a suspected Saudi terrorist to a mosque in New York
2.  Agents search the database known as a "24-7" operation
3.  Bank account numbers and other identifying information can be retrieved

Victories to date

The capture of al Qaeda operative, Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, believed to be the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of a Bali resort, according to US officials working for the TFTP programme. The Swift data identified a previously unknown figure in Southeast Asia who had financial dealings with a person suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda; that link helped locate Hambali in Thailand in 2003, they said.  (Source of information The New York Times)

The data also helped identify a Brooklyn man who was convicted on terrorism-related charges last year, the officials said. The man, Uzair Paracha, who worked at a New York import business, aided al Qaeda operative in Pakistan by agreeing to launder $200,000 through a Karachi bank, prosecutors said.

photo credit: London Daily News all rights reserved  Claude Moraes MEP for London Labour