Post by fireopal on Nov 17, 2009 9:38:41 GMT 4
see this article by Frédéric Spirou
The presidency of the European Union - currently held by Sweden as represented through its Minister for European Union affairs, Cecilia Malmstroem - on Wednesday presented a draft Council decision to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) regarding an agreement between the United States and the European Union. Titled "Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program" it provides mechanisms for the transfer of financial information from Europe to US authorities. In mid-June 2006, the existence of a secret US government program that came into being shortly after the 9/11 incident was revealed by the New York Times. Said program was designed to monitor global financial transactions data that was provided by SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
SWIFT operates an IP-based worldwide financial messaging network through which the majority of global interbank communications are transferred. Two data centers, one in the US and one in The Netherlands, are transferred. Two data centers, one in the US and one in The Netherlands, are synchronized for redundancy. These publications sparked a furious outrage in Europe, citing business misconduct and negligence by SWIFT. Consequently SWIFT prepared for a third data center in Switzerland and a redesign of its infrastructure, splitting the network into two zones, the European messaging zone and the Trans-Atlantic messaging zone. European message would then only be stored in The Netherlands and Switzerland and thus no longer be available to the Central Intelligence Agency.
The Swedish presidency wants to push through an agreement that would grant the US access to domestic and intra-European wire transfer records even after the implementation of SWIFT's new Distributed Architecture. The scope of application would be very wide-ranging and thus provide near all-encompassing access for US authorities. Critics in Brussels are most aghast at the proposed time frame. The Swedes want to push through the treaty on November 1st, just one day before the Treaty of Lisbon will enter into force on December 1st, 2009, which grants co-decision powers in Justice and Home Affairs to the European Parliament.
www.wikileaks.org/wiki/EU_draft_council_decision_on_sharing_of_banking_data_with_the_US_and_restructuring_of_SWIFT%2C_10_Nov_2009
The presidency of the European Union - currently held by Sweden as represented through its Minister for European Union affairs, Cecilia Malmstroem - on Wednesday presented a draft Council decision to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) regarding an agreement between the United States and the European Union. Titled "Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program" it provides mechanisms for the transfer of financial information from Europe to US authorities. In mid-June 2006, the existence of a secret US government program that came into being shortly after the 9/11 incident was revealed by the New York Times. Said program was designed to monitor global financial transactions data that was provided by SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
SWIFT operates an IP-based worldwide financial messaging network through which the majority of global interbank communications are transferred. Two data centers, one in the US and one in The Netherlands, are transferred. Two data centers, one in the US and one in The Netherlands, are synchronized for redundancy. These publications sparked a furious outrage in Europe, citing business misconduct and negligence by SWIFT. Consequently SWIFT prepared for a third data center in Switzerland and a redesign of its infrastructure, splitting the network into two zones, the European messaging zone and the Trans-Atlantic messaging zone. European message would then only be stored in The Netherlands and Switzerland and thus no longer be available to the Central Intelligence Agency.
The Swedish presidency wants to push through an agreement that would grant the US access to domestic and intra-European wire transfer records even after the implementation of SWIFT's new Distributed Architecture. The scope of application would be very wide-ranging and thus provide near all-encompassing access for US authorities. Critics in Brussels are most aghast at the proposed time frame. The Swedes want to push through the treaty on November 1st, just one day before the Treaty of Lisbon will enter into force on December 1st, 2009, which grants co-decision powers in Justice and Home Affairs to the European Parliament.
www.wikileaks.org/wiki/EU_draft_council_decision_on_sharing_of_banking_data_with_the_US_and_restructuring_of_SWIFT%2C_10_Nov_2009