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Revisiting Financial Services Sector Transparency through Whistleblowing: The Case of South Africa and Switzerland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2017
Abstract
The recent global financial crisis has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of traditional regulation in averting financial crime. Consequently the supervision of financial institutions has been increasingly re-evaluated and such endeavours have resulted in the reregulation of the sector in many jurisdictions. This article argues that, much as these strategies can be said to be laudable, until they emphasize engagement with the people who work in those institutions through making it possible for them to report corporate misconduct, these legislative paradigms will not avail much. As such, this article argues for the increased use of insiders through whistleblowing as a mechanism to support the exposure of illegal activities. By comparing the whistleblowing approaches adopted in South Africa and Switzerland, this article attempts to contribute to the standardization of approaches that can be used to enhance global financial sector transparency and minimize financial crime.
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- Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2017
Footnotes
References
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20 Hofmeister “Whistleblowing?” above at note 3; Latimer, P “Whistleblowing in the financial services sector” (2002) 21 University of Tasmania Law Review 39 Google Scholar. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines transparency as “an environment in which the objectives of policy, its legal, institutional, and economic framework, policy decisions and their rationale, data and information related to monetary and financial policies, and the terms of agencies' accountability, are provided to the public in a comprehensible, accessible, and timely manner.” See OECD “Glossary of statistical terms”, available at: <http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=4474> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
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29 For instance, over 36.5 billion South African Rand is held in the Swiss banking system; see Swiss National Bank “Banks in Switzerland: 2013 edition”, available at: <http://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/reference/pre_20140619_2/source/pre_20140619_2.en.pdf> (last accessed 30 December 2016). Further, according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, South Africa is Switzerland's most important trading partner on the African continent; see “Bilateral relations Switzerland - South Africa”, available at: <http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/afri/vzaf/bilsaf.html> (last accessed 30 November 2016). See also “Swiss investment in SA multiplies” (5 September 2013) SouthAfrica.info, available at: <http://www.southafrica.info/news/international/switzerland-050913.htm#.U6m0mLA6mUl> (last accessed 30 November 2016). See also G Kreis Switzerland and South Africa 1948–1994: Final Report of the NFP 42+ Commissioned by the Swiss Federal Council (2007, Peter Lang).
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51 It should be noted that this article is confined to the regulation of whistleblowing in the private sector; as such it does not consider other conventions and acts that regulate whistleblowing in the public sector, such as sec 159 of the Companies Act 2008, the Reporting of Public Entities Act 93 of 1992, the Corruption Act 94 of 1992, the Public Services Act 103 of 1994 and the Audit Act 122 of 1992. In addition, South Africa is a signatory to and has ratified a number of international agreements in which it has agreed to adopt whistleblowing in a bid to fight corruption and foster accountability and transparency in the management of public affairs and socio-economic development on the continent. These include the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, 2003, the OECD Convention on combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, as well as the Southern African Development Community Protocol against Corruption.
52 Sec 4(1) provides: “Any employee who has been subjected, is subject or may be subjected, to an occupational detriment in breach of section 3, may - (a) approach any court having jurisdiction, including the Labour Court … for appropriate relief; or (b) pursue any other process allowed or prescribed by any law.” Further, sec 4(2) provides: “For the purposes of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, including the consideration of any matter emanating from this Act by the Labour Court - (a) any dismissal in breach of section 3 is deemed to be an automatically unfair dismissal as contemplated in section 187 of that Act … (b) any other occupational detriment in breach of section 3 is deemed to be an unfair labour practice.” Sec 4(3) further states: “Any employee who has made a protected disclosure and who reasonably believes that he or she may be adversely affected on account of having made that disclosure, must, at his or her request and if reasonably possible or practicable, be transferred from the post or position occupied by him or her at the time of the disclosure to another post or position in the same division or another division of his or her employer or, where the person making the disclosure is employed by an organ of state, to another organ of state.” And, according to sec 4(4): “The terms and conditions of employment of a person transferred in terms of subsection (2) may not, without his or her written consent, be less favourable than the terms and conditions applicable to him or her immediately before his or her transfer.”
53 See generally P Martin “The status of whistleblowing in South Africa: Taking stock” (June 2010), available at: <http://www.advocacyaid.com/images/stories/rrdownloads/ODAC_Whistleblowing_Report.pdf> (last accessed 30 November 2016); Dehn, G and Calland, R Whistleblowing Around the World: Law, Culture & Practice (2004, Public Concern at Work)Google Scholar.
54 For more information, visit Whistle Blowers at: <http://www.whistleblowing.co.za/> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
55 See for instance the Swiss Code of Obligations, arts 716(2) and 717(1). For a discussion of duties see: Campbell, D and Campbell, C International Liability of Corporate Directors (2nd ed, 2013, Juris Publications)Google Scholar; Garbarski, AM La Responsabilité Civile et Pénale des Organes Dirigeants de Sociétés Anonymes [Civil and criminal liability of the governing bodies of public limited companies] (2006, Schulthess Juristische Media Juridiques SA) 135 Google Scholar.
56 See generally Homburger “Whistleblowing systems under data protection law” (9 January 2008), available at: <http://www.homburger.ch/fileadmin/publications/WSDAPROL_01.pdf> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
57 See Keller, WL and Darby, TJ International Labor and Employment Laws, vol IIA J (3rd ed, 2008, Darby)Google Scholar.
58 Ueli Sommer, Walder Wyss & Partners Ltd “Switzerland” at 42–48, available at: <http://www.walderwyss.com/publications/973.pdf> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
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61 An apt illustration of the ambit of art 47 is made by the conviction of Rudolf Elmer, a Swiss ex-banker, for giving data to WikiLeaks. See “Convicted whistleblower banker arrested on new charges” (20 January 2011) France 24, available at: <http://www.france24.com/en/20110119-whistleblower-swiss-banker-arrested-new-charges-after-sentencing-elmer-wikileaks/#./?&_suid=140775600394401884355464697095> (last accessed 30 November 2016). Further, see “Swiss bank secrecy: A whistleblower's woes” (19 July 2014) The Economist, available at: <http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2014/07/swiss-bank-secrecy> (last accessed 30 December 2016). See also V Oberti and K Laske “A major scandal brews after Spain arrests HSBC whistleblower Falciani” (24 July 2012) Mediapart, available at: <http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/240712/major-scandal-brews-after-spain-arrests-hsbc-whistleblower-falciani> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
62 Loi sur les Banques [Banking Act] 8 November 1934, RS 952.0, art 47; Nobel, P Swiss Financial Law in the International Context (2002, Stämpfli)Google Scholar; Nobel, P Swiss Financial Law and International Standards (2002, Kluwer Law International)Google Scholar.
63 See Krauskopf, L “Comments on Switzerland's insider trading, money laundering, and banking secrecy laws” (1991) 9 International Tax & Business Law 277 Google Scholar.
64 Grassi, PS and Calvarese, D “The duty of confidentiality of banks in Switzerland: Where it stands and where it goes. Recent developments and experience the Swiss assistance to, and cooperation with the Italian authorities in the investigation of corruption among civil servants in Italy (the ‘clean hands' investigation): How much is too much?” (1995) 7 Pace International Law Review 329 Google Scholar at 340.
65 Krauskopf “Comments on Switzerland's insider trading”, above at note 63.
66 The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has interpreted business secrets as encompassing “any data of economic life, provided there is a legitimate interest in keeping the secret … [and] the term may also include relations and transactions of private economy concerning property and income”: id at 293.
67 Swiss Criminal Code, 21 December 1937, RS 311.0, art 273.
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69 See for instance Alfadda v Fenn 149 FRD 28 at 32 (SDNY 1993). It should be noted that the party who owns information in the bank's custody has the right to waive their right to privacy and allow disclosure. It is not the financial institution but the customer who owns the secret, so only the injured party can bring an action for the violation of art 162. See generally Krauskopf “Comments on Switzerland's insider trading”, above at note 63; Frei, L “Swiss secrecy laws and obtaining evidence from Switzerland” (1984) 18/4 The International Lawyer 789 Google Scholar.
70 This implied duty of the banker-customer contract is also protected under certain statutes within South Africa's financial sector. See for instance, sec 33(1)(a) of the South African Reserve Bank Act No 90 of 1989, which, inter alia, prohibits disclosure of information regarding the affairs of the bank, shareholders or customers unless compelled by law. Further, sec 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides for the right to personal privacy. Likewise, the Protection of Personal Information Act no 4 of 2013 promotes the protection of personal information being processed by public and private institutions, such as banks, by imposing a number of restrictions, conditions and safeguards relating to the use of such information. Under sec 8 of the Inspection of Financial Institutions Act, an inspector carrying out an inspection of a bank is obliged to preserve confidentiality unless the court, the law or the nature of an inspection compels disclosure. Banker-customer liability will be based on breach of contract; see for instance: Legogote Development Co (Pty) v Delta Trust and Finance Co (1970) 1 SA 584; Firstrand Bank Ltd v Chaucer Publications (Pty) Ltd 2008 (2) SA 592 (C); Cambanis Buildings (Pty) Ltd v Gal 1983 (2) SA 128 (N) 137 F; Kearney NO v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd 1961 (2) SA 647 (T) 650.
71 This was reiterated in Abrahams v Burns 1914 CPD 452; GS George Consultants & Investments (Pty) Ltd and Others v Datasys (Pty) Ltd 1988 (3) SA 726 (W); Firstrand Bank, ibid. See also Stevens and Others v Investec Bank Ltd and Others (2012 / 32900) [2012] ZAGPJHC 226 (25 October 2012); Tournier v National Provincial & Union Bank of England [1924] 1 KB 461. See AB Fourie The Banker and the Law (1993, Institute of Bankers in South Africa); Hudson, A The Law of Finance (1st ed, 2009, Sweet and Maxwell)Google Scholar; Neethling, J Neethling's Law of Personality (2nd ed, 2005, Butterworths)Google Scholar; Ellinger, EP, Lomnicka, E and Hooley, RJA Ellinger's Modern Banking Law (5th ed, 2011, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar; Masete, NT “The challenges in safeguarding financial privacy in South Africa” (2012) 7/3 Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology 248 Google Scholar; Cranston, R Principles of Banking Law (2nd ed, 2003, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar; Schooner, HM and Taylor, M Global Bank Regulation: Principles and Policies (2010, Academic Press)Google Scholar.
72 See Firstrand Bank, above at note 70.
73 Ibid.
74 Hofmeister “Whistleblowing”, above at note 3 at 118.
75 See generally Diamond, WH Switzerland: Tax Exemptions and Reductions in Tax Havens of the World (2010, Matthew Bender Books)Google Scholar; Bar, HJ The Banking System of Switzerland (5th ed, 1975, Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag)Google Scholar.
76 See Krauskopf “Comments on Switzerland's insider trading”, above at note 63; Victorson, EM “ United States v UBS AG: Has the United States successfully cracked the vault to Swiss Banking Secrecy?” (2011) 19 Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law 815 Google Scholar.
77 Nobel Swiss Financial Law in the International Context, above at note 62; Krauskopf, ibid. Note however that, in case of a suit between the bank and customer, the bank would be absolved from such a requirement for secrecy; see for instance Nobel Swiss Financial Law and International Standards, above at note 62 at 891.
78 Grassi and Calvarese “The duty of confidentiality”, above at note 64 at 331.
79 Bar, HJ The Banking System of Switzerland (5th ed, 1975, Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag)Google Scholar; Sage, TA “Between a rock and a hard place: The legal and moral juxtaposition of Switzerland's bank secrecy laws as illustrated by the revelation of Nazi-Era accounts” (1997) 21/1 Houston Journal of International Law 117 Google Scholar; the Swiss Criminal Code, art 321 (violation of professional secrecy) states: “Clergymen, lawyers, defence counsels, notaries, auditors bound to professional secrecy by the [Swiss] Code of Obligations, physicians, dentists, pharmacists, midwives, and their auxiliaries who divulge a secret entrusted to them or of which they have become aware during the exercise of their profession, shall upon petition, be punished by imprisonment or by a fine …”
80 It should also be noted that the operation of these stringent banking and stock market secrecy laws is overridden by the obligation to testify and make disclosure in terms of cantonal or federal laws. See SESTA, arts 47(4) and 43(3) for instance. See also: Nobel Swiss Financial Law and International Standards, above at note 62; Krauskopf “Comments on Switzerland's insider trading”, above at note 63.
81 See for instance M Crutsinger “US, Switzerland agree to crack down on tax evaders” (20 June 2009) USA Today, available at: < http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7884864> (last accessed 29 December 2016). Furthermore, after decades of repelling international pressure, Switzerland has been forced to soften its banking secrecy laws significantly. Bilateral concessions arose mainly from collective pressure exerted by fellow OECD members (risk of blacklisting), as well as in response to US threats to indict UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank. They mainly concerned tax-related issues, but these concessions nonetheless point to the development of a new global standard built around transparency. See generally Grinberg, I “The battle over taxing offshore accounts” (2012) 304 UCLA Law Review 305 Google Scholar.
82 See US v UBS AG no 09-20423-CIV-GOLD/MCALILEY (SD Fla, 9 July 2009); Crutsinger, ibid. See also Stark, SA Hidden Treuhand: How Corporations and Individuals Hide Assets and Money (2009, Universal-Publishers)Google Scholar.
83 See Cantley, BG “The UBS case: The US attack on Swiss banking sovereignty” (2011) 7 International Law & Management Review 1 Google Scholar; “Brief for government of Switzerland as amici curiae supporting respondents” at 1, United States v UBS AG, no 109CV20423, 2009 WL 1612394 (SD Fla, 30 April 2009).
84 See J Manley “Swiss minister to meet Clinton ahead of UBS deadline” (20 July 2009) Reuters, available at: <http://blogs.reuters.com/financial-regulatory-forum/2009/07/20/swiss-minister-to-meet-clinton-ahead-of-ubs-deadline/> (last accessed 30 November 2016); K McCoy “US, UBS say they have a deal in tax-evasion dispute” (31 July 2009) USA Today, available at: < http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8311349> (last accessed 30 December 2016).
85 See generally Aubert, M “The limits of Swiss banking secrecy under domestic and international law” (1984) 2 International Tax & Business Law 273 Google Scholar.
86 Transparency International “South Africa: A mandate to tackle corruption” (6 May 2014), available at: <http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/south_africa_a_mandate_to_tackle_corruption> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
87 Steyn “SA banks worried”, above at note 30; Hosken “World fraud champs”, above at note 30; PwC “Confronting the changing face”, above at note 30; “SA companies top fraud survey”, above at note 30.
88 Martin “The status of whistleblowing”, above at note 53.
89 Id at 19. See also Dehn, G and Calland, R Whistleblowing Around the World: Law, Culture & Practice (2004, Public Concern at Work)Google Scholar.
90 See for example: Vandekerckhove, W Whistleblowing and Organizational Social Responsibility: A Global Assessment (2012, Gower Publishing, Ltd)Google Scholar; Arszulowicz, M and Gasparski, WW Whistleblowing: In Defense of Proper Action (2011, Transaction Publishers)Google Scholar; Parliamentary Monitoring Group “National anti-corruption summit, and public service restructuring: Briefings” (25 May 2005), available at: <http://www.pmg.org.za/minutes/20050524-national-anti-corruption-summit-and-public-service-restructuring-briefings> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
91 Martin “The status of whistleblowing”, above at note 53.
92 See generally: Vega, MA “Beyond incentives: Making corporate whistleblowing moral in the new era of Dodd-Frank Act ‘Bounty hunting’” (2012) 45/2 Connecticut Law Review 481 Google Scholar; Baer, MH “Governing corporate compliance” (2009) 50 Boston College Law Review 949 Google Scholar; Arnold, TM “It's déjà vu all over again: Using bounty hunters to leverage gatekeeper duties” (2010) 45 Tulsa Law Review 419 Google Scholar; Bucy, PH “‘Carrots and sticks': Post-Enron regulatory initiatives” (2004) 8 Buffalo Criminal Law Review 277 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cunningham, LA “Beyond liability: Rewarding effective gatekeepers” (2007) 92 Minnesota Law Review 323 Google Scholar.
93 Rapp, GC “Beyond protection: Invigorating incentives for Sarbanes-Oxley corporate and securities fraud whistleblowers” (2007) 87 Boston University Law Review 91 Google Scholar.
94 See Lewis and Uys “Protecting whistleblowers at work”, above at note 37; Culp, D “Whistleblowers: Corporate anarchists or heroes? Towards a judicial perspective” (1995) 13 Hofstra Labour & Employment Law Journal 109 Google Scholar.
95 Note however that, at the time of writing this article, there are growing calls for the review of these parameters, in particular the exclusion of contract and agency employees, as well as extending to whistleblowers protection against civil suits. Additional amendments being proposed include stiffer penalties, ranging from a fine to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or both a fine and imprisonment for the malicious disclosure of false information. See Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill, sec 9B, available at: <http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/bills/2015-PDAAmmBill-b40-2015.pdf> (last accessed 30 December 2016). See also Public Protector South Africa “Public Protector welcomes whistle blower protection law amendments” (1 April 2014), available at: <http://www.pprotect.org/media_gallery/2014/01042014.asp> (last accessed 30 November 2016).
96 See for instance Second National Anti-Corruption Summit “Roundtable discussion: The Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act 26 of 2000)”, available at: <http://www.nacf.org.za/anti-corruption-summits/second_summit/Section6_PSC_report_Summit2_2005.pdf> (last accessed 30 December 2016).
97 For a more comprehensive discussion of the weaknesses associated with the PDA, see stakeholder comments made by the Second National Anti-Corruption Summit “Roundtable discussion”, ibid.
98 There has been a comparatively large corpus of decided cases on whistleblowing. See for instance Ngobeni v Minister of Communications and Another J08/14 [2014] ZALCJHB 96; Communication Workers Union v Mobile Telephone Networks (Pty) Ltd (2003) 24 ILJ 1670 (LC); Tshishonga v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Another (JS898/04) [2006] ZALC 104 (26 December 2006); Young v Coega Development Corporation (Pty) Ltd [2009] 6 BLLR 597 (ECP) High Court; City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality v Engineering Council of South Africa and Another (532/08) [2009] ZASCA 151 (27 November 2009). See also CJ Auriacombe “Whistle blowing and the law in South Africa” (2005) 24/2 Politeia 197.
99 Hofmeister “Whistleblowing”, above at note 3 at 117.
100 Vandekerckhove, W “European whistleblower protection: Tiers or tears?” in Lewis, D (ed) A Global Approach to Public Interest Disclosure (2010, Edward Elgar) 15 Google Scholar at 20.
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