Swiss bank secrecy before 1934
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Until 1934, bank secrecy was regulated solely by civil law. A client could lodge a complaint for damages against any bank that neglected its duty of confidence. The cantonal civil rights unified in 1907 by the Swiss civil code and the 1911 labor code provided sufficient guaranties for aggrieved clients to enforce their rights. On the other hand, there was no criminal provision; there was no threat of imprisonment for the banker at fault. Swiss jurisprudence at the turn of the century would confirm this duty
of confidence on several occasions. In 1930, the federal court, the Supreme
Court of Switzerland, recalled that "the banker's confidence constitutes
an implicit contractual duty". This affirmation was further developed
in 1932 in the case of Charpiot versus the Caisse d'épargne de
Bassecourt (Bassecourt savings bank): "Bank secrecy is nothing
other than the right of each bank client to demand the strictest confidence
from the bank in the business affairs with which it is entrusted; it is equally,
and conversely, the bank's duty to keep completely quiet about these affairs.
For the banker in particular, this duty is independent of the legal relationship
between the banker and his or her client. Whether there is a written contract
or not, violation of bank secrecy constitutes a wrongful act according to articles
41 et seq. of the labor code". Jurisprudence and the various provisions of the civil code and the labor code provided a legal framework consistent with bank secrecy. And yet only an explicitly formulated law could impart to this system the strength required to survive the calamity of the twentieth century. The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the depression it inflicted upon Europe in the early thirties created extremely strained international relations. In the face of rising fascism and popular fronts, a legal recognition of bank secrecy was the only way for the Swiss government to openly declare its liberal beliefs and its refusal to interfere in the private affairs of its citizens. This was accomplished by means of the Banking Act passed in 1934.
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