Swiss Bankers Banned from Travel?

Although I am as frightened as the next person by the instability that this financial crisis has already inflicted and threatens to intensify, it’s sometimes difficult to contain my delight when something both unexpected and completely out of the ordinary occurs, especially when it is an event that would have been considered outside the realm of possibility one year ago. Imagine my reaction to a Financial Times headline announcing that “Swiss Banks Ban Overseas Travel Amid Global Crackdown on Secrecy”. Priceless. The article goes on to describe how Swiss bankers have been forbidden to travel to the United States, the bastion of freedom and democracy, because of, and I quote, “fear you will be taken in for questioning. I am thinking twice about going to America.” And there’s more! The article goes on to describe how a handful of Swiss banks are preventing their executives from traveling anywhere outside of Geneva, including other European countries such as France. Travel back in time about one year, and seriously just try to imagine how completely insane you would find anyone who seriously thought that Swiss bankers should be quaking in fear at the prospect of traveling through western Europe or into the United States. It would sound utterly ridiculous; yet today, it is no more than another story, quickly skimmed and passed over by countless readers. Although what piqued my interest was the prospect of Swiss bankers fearing the United States in a manner similar to how political activists fear authoritarian dictatorships, or terrorists fear leaving their hideaways in protective countries, it is relevant to note that this is a sign of the emergence of a bottom-up social force that is tired of what appears to be a system that rewards irresponsibility to the detriment of the majority. Large-scale social unrest and fear of the government is in the end no laughing matter, especially in developed, prosperous, democratic societies. Governments and citizens alike must remember the ideological foundations of our free and open societies, even when tempted to overstep boundaries or to act as vigilantes, respectively. I’m not in favor of physically attacking or detaining bankers, regardless of the magnitude of their crimes against society. As a citizen in a democracy, I trust that the rule of law will bring about justice. But that won’t stop me from smirking with repressed enjoyment at the thought of dozens of bankers unable to leave Switzerland for fear of detainment.