Last week's call by the Swiss bankers, made prior to Thursday's annual 'Bankers' Day' in Zurich, has come after a spate of recent high-profile cases where account details were surrendered and monies frozen under legal mutual assistance procedures to which Switzerland is a signatory. Perhaps the most notable example of this was in the case of Russian oil firm Yukos, which had more than $1.6 billion frozen by Swiss banks last year.

"In the last few years, Switzerland has made great efforts to combat money laundering and funds linked to potentates, and it has proved too that the relevant laws can also be applied very strictly in the financial sector and that banking confidentiality protects neither drug traffickers nor terrorists," observed Urs Roth, chief executive of the Bankers' Association.

However, Roth went on to observe a growing awareness among the legal community that judicial assistance treaties with Switzerland are being abused by foreign powers, and that the Swiss authorities are turning a blind eye to possible injustices in a foreign prosecution by simply deciding on the basis of procedural criteria.

"Quite recently, legal experts and practitioners have been increasingly critical of the judicial assistance practice of the Swiss authorities. There are suspicions that the judicial authorities in foreign countries may start a prosecution just as a pretext to get at financial information through judicial legal assistance or to put companies under economic pressure by having their accounts blocked. This clearly would be an abuse of judicial assistance. Judicial assistance cannot be allowed to serve domestic political goals by being misused to exert pressure on influential or politically unpopular persons or companies," Mr Roth noted.

He went on to add that:

"Switzerland, it is true, bears no responsibility for foreign proceedings but it has a duty not to be simply a willing provider of assistance in cases that are clearly politically motivated. The protection of personal financial privacy is part of the bedrock of the Swiss legal psyche and is the right of every respectable bank customer in Switzerland, whatever his or her nationality. Switzerland must not be pushed by the judicial assistance process into becoming simply a purveyor of information."

"Suspect or at least doubtful requests should be refused or additional information sought, despite any fears that this might cause diplomatic friction."

Mr Roth concluded by arguing that:

"It is absolutely necessary and right that Switzerland should comply with international standards and conventions in the field of judicial assistance. But even these noble aims and the desire of our authorities for greater international cooperation cannot justify the use of any means to achieve them. This applies particularly to the guaranteeing of those fundamental individual rights that continue to be very highly regarded in Switzerland."