Following footprints

As readers and viewers of The Da Vinci Code know all too well,the secrecy of Swiss bank accounts/ vaults is formidably strong. Real-life awe about the secretive procedures of Swiss banks is so rampant that of all the improbables strung together in Dan Brown’s bestseller,it was the bank that seemed most plausible. Little wonder then that news of an actual Swiss bank’s deal to reveal the names of American account-holders has created ripples. UBS,the largest bank in Switzerland,has reached a settlement with American authorities investigating its role in assisting US citizens in tax evasion. The list of names that will finally be revealed may not be tens of thousands of American account holders,and just a few hundred who were assisted between 2000 and 2007. Either way,you do have to ask,will anything be secret any more?

Perhaps not. The Swiss franc fell on news of the UBS settlement,as did the bank’s stocks. For UBS,this comes after deep distress accruing from the current financial crisis. But it would be fair to say that,banking apart,in a digitalising world secrecy is become an old-fashioned pursuit. As the handlers of the 26/11 terrorists are learning,the operation may have succeeded stealing into Mumbai under the cover of the falling night,but the investigation has been greatly enhanced by the swift recovery of closed circuit television footage and exhaustive telephone records. Even the most obscure of recruits to a shadowy cause leaves deep digital footprints.

As do larger numbers of folks transacting business. As anti-terrorism measures,banks around the world demand proof of identity,so do hotels checking in clients. But as they’ll say one day,secrecy was a highly over-rated virtue.