2023-07-15 14:34:50
According to a parliamentary committee document, the files of the parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of Credit Suisse will remain closed for 50 years, a level of secrecy that has raised concerns among Swiss historians.
The document means the commission of inquiry will hand over its files to the Swiss Federal Archives following a period longer than the usual 30 years, to ensure that high levels of confidentiality apply to the investigation, which has attracted great interest. from the public.
The investigation will focus on the activities of the Swiss government, financial regulator and central bank in the run-up to the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS in March.
The inquiry is only the fifth of its kind in the country’s modern history, and the commission of lawmakers conducting it has sweeping powers to summon the Swiss cabinet, finance ministry and other state bodies.
“After completion of the investigation, the records will be handed over to the Federal Archives and will be subject to an extended protection of 50 years,” the commission said in a strategic document outlining its communications policy.
The Swiss parliament declined to comment on Saturday following the Aargauer Zeitung newspaper reported on the 50-year requirement.
The Swiss Historical Society was concerned regarding this duration, and its president Sacha Zala wrote to the president of the commission, Isabelle Chassot, legislator in the upper house of the Swiss parliament.
“If researchers want to scientifically study the 2023 banking crisis, access to CS records would be invaluable,” Zala wrote, according to the newspaper.
“Ideally, it should be possible to secure and make accessible archives following the expiration of an appropriate period of protection and, if necessary, subject to historical research conditions,” he added.
The commission held its first regular meeting in Bern on Thursday, where it insisted on the confidentiality of its work, which might include interviews with bankers.
“All persons participating in meetings and interrogations are subject to the obligation of secrecy, not only the members of the commission, but also the persons questioned themselves.
“Indiscretions complicate the work or damage the credibility of the commission and can have negative consequences for the Swiss financial centre,” added the commission. (Reporting by John Revill; editing by David Evans and Christina Fincher)
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