An anonymous reader writes:
My UK bank, Smile (an internet bank set up by the Co-Operative bank — both have an ethical policy), has sent me an email saying that all international SWIFT payments to any country must now have the full transfer details disclosed to the US Government for the purposes of:
a) Complying with applicable laws, including without limitation anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws and regulations,
And
b) Fighting crime and terrorism.
And of course this means the data will be transferred outside the EEA that doesn't have the same level of data protection as the UK.
I'm not sure if this is just my bank, or if all UK banks are affected. Here's the email in full:
— Forwarded message —
From: e-mail from smile
Date: 01-May-2007 19:46
Subject: Important information about your account with smile
Hello MR ANONYMOUS COWARD
As a smile customer, we have to let you know about any regulatory changes relating to your account(s) with smile.
smile foreign payments changes
As from the start of business Monday 14th May 2007, there will be a change to the way we process international payments.
What's the background?
The USA Government requires that all international transfers processed through the USA be provided with all the transfer details. As all SWIFT payments worldwide are processed through the USA, any SWIFT transfer requested by you will have the full transfer details disclosed to the USA Government. This also applies to TIPANET payments that are sent to the USA.
The Data Protection Authority in Belgium has ruled that this is a breach of the Data Protection Directive and so the sender of the money must be made aware of this and be given the option not to proceed with the transfer if they are not in agreement to this sharing.
What does this mean to me?
If you ask us to send a SWIFT payment to anywhere in the world or a TIPANET payment to the USA, you will need to agree to a declaration about how the transfer details could be used.
We'll need you to agree to the declaration each time you ask us to do a SWIFT payment to anywhere in the world or a TIPANET payment to the USA. Unfortunately, we can't process your request in these circumstances without your agreement to the declaration.
TIPANET payments to other parts of the world and euroCHAPS are not affected by this change.
What does the declaration say?
Below is the declaration that we'll need you to agree to each time you request a SWIFT payment to anywhere in the world or a TIPANET payment to the USA:
'In order to make this payment, personal information relating to the individuals involved in the transfer may be processed for the purposes of:
a) Complying with applicable laws, including without limitation anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws and regulations,
And
b) Fighting crime and terrorism,
And disclosure to any Government entity, regulatory authority or to any person we reasonably think necessary for these purposes. This may mean that personal information will be transferred outside the EEA to countries, which do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK.
I agree to the above: Yes/No? (Delete as appropriate)'
Additional information
If you'd like to find out more information about our foreign services, go to: http://www.smile.co.uk/foreign
For more information on Data Protection, go to: http://www.ico.gov.uk/
If you have any questions about your account, please send us a secure message.
Thanks
smile
This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee and is strictly confidential. If you are not the addressee, please do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any of its attachments. Instead please e-mail it back to the sender and delete the message from your computer. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error free and The Co-operative Bank accepts no liability for changes made to this e-mail (and any attachments) after it was sent or for viruses arising as a result of this e-mail transmission. Any unauthorised reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. The Co-operative Bank may intercept any e-mail or other communication which you send to or receive from smile via the Bank's telecommunications systems for certain permitted lawful purposes. By so corresponding you also give your consent to Bank monitoring and recording of any correspondence using these systems. The registered office is at PO Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M60 4EP. As part of The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. , smile is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (No. 121885), subscribes to the Banking Code, is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (No.006110). Please refer to our Ethical Policy for further information.
