In my latest interview on Bloomberg Television I have discussed the latest data theft reported by HSBC Private Bank based in Switzerland.

Is the data private of banking clients really protected ?

A recent study present some alarming data: 61% of the banks do not offer secure web messaging from their own website.

This means that some private banks allow potential clients to communicate through forms that can easily be intercepted (I have just verified last night and HSBC Switzerland was one of them). Implementing this level of security through an SSL encryption and certificate costs a bank as little as few hundred dollars.
Whilst this is not related to the HSBC incident it gives an idea that security levels exist but, often, are not properly implemented by banks.

Why can't a private bank simply implement a system where data cannot, under any circumstance, be exported by a single individual ?

Obviously security comes at a price. Too much security might result in operational issues but while a bank employee might need to see some of the data, allowing a computer manager or operator to export it and sell it seems inappropriate.

Some Swiss private banks do not even offer e-banking to avoid potential risks but this effort might just be inconvenient for the client if the treat comes from within the bank.

Is it really ethical for Governments like France and Germany to use stolen data? It is probably not ethical but their reasoning is based on the unethical, or illegal, behavior of these that operate accounts for tax evasion purposes.

As explained in my interview I think that the HSBC event might advantage small Swiss private bank and bankers vs. international branches that might need to balance the fiscal austerity of their homelands with their desire to operate in the lucrative private banking and wealth management business. On a broader sense Swiss banks need to enhance their competitiveness that should yes include banking secrecy as and of their strengths but not the only one. This is already the case in some of the traditional Swiss banks that focus on Wealth Management and never entered the speculative U.S. investment banking business as UBS did.

If you were the manager in a Swiss private bank what would you do to protect your clients and your reputation? I welcome your comments through the comments form below.