Credit Suisse inquiry will keep files secret for 50 years, reports Swiss paper
Parliamentary inquiry in Credit Suisse collapse It will keep its files closed for 50 years, the Aargauer Zeitung reported, raising concerns among Swiss historians.
The newspaper said the investigation committee will hand over its files, which include witness statements and documents, to the Swiss Federal Archives after a gap much longer than the usual 30 years.
The Swiss parliament did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
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Concerns about the length of the time were raised by the Swiss Society of History, with its president Sascha Zala writing to committee chair Isabelle Chassot, a lawmaker from the Swiss Senate.
“If researchers want to conduct a scientific investigation of the 2023 banking crisis, access to the CS files would be invaluable,” Zala wrote, according to the paper.
He added, “Ideally, it should be possible to secure the archive and make it available after the appropriate period of protection has expired and, if necessary, subject to historical research conditions.”
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The investigation will focus on the activities of the Swiss government, financial regulator and central bank in the run-up to the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS in March.
The investigation is only the fifth of its kind in the country’s recent history, and the panel of lawmakers it is conducting has sweeping powers to subpoena the Swiss cabinet, finance ministry and other government bodies.
The committee held its first regular meeting in Berne on Thursday, where it stressed the confidentiality of its deliberations.
It could have the power to question the Credit Suisse bankers involved, but they will not be the focus of the investigation.