The Sydney Morning Herald
Swiss bank Julius Baer, facing an international backlash, defended on Thursday taking legal action to shut down a website that published what the site said were details of secret bank accounts linked to tax- avoidance schemes.
Zurich-based Baer said the documents, posted on wikileaks.org by a self-described whistle-blower, alleged tax and money laundering schemes involving Cayman Islands accounts. The bank said the documents were falsified and it denied the claims made in them.
"It is not and never has been Julius Baer's intention to stifle anyone's right to free speech," Baer said in a statement. "The posting of confidential bank records by anonymous sources significantly harms the privacy rights of all individuals."
Baer said the documents were prohibited from publication under both U.S. and Swiss laws.
Baer made the statement as free speech advocates worldwide accused the bank of censoring a website. Critics of the bank's actions are rallying to defend the website and will urge a U.S. Federal judge on Friday to reverse his decision to shut wikileaks.org.
The legal storm also comes as Baer and other private banks watch international pressure mount on Liechtenstein, a European principality and tax haven, to lift its veil of bank secrecy. Many countries such as Germany and the United States say this secrecy helps their own citizens to evade taxes.
Baer, one of Switzerland's largest banks specializing in managing money for the very wealthy, said the wikileaks.org website last month published what was purported to be secret account information stolen and forged by a former bank employee.
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