Intra-European Financial Seizures by Foreign Parties
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
I have been following privacy related developments in European from a personal and professional standpoint over a decade.
While Europe used to have a very strong history within this area, with globally significant publications such as European Parliament's Report on the Existence of a Global System for the Interception of Private and Commercial communications (ECHELON interception system) (2001/2098(INI)), 11 July 2001, it seems that of late this spirit of transparency and the protection of individual liberties has fallen away, particularly in the area of financial networks.
It has been recently acknowledged that the European Union continues to pass complete information regarding all international financial transactions, even intra-European transactions, to the United States, having done so (seemingly uninterrupted) since at least 2011 [1]:
"[The] main reason for the development of a European terrorist finance tracking system (‘EU TFTS’) has its source in the present US TFTP agreement (and in particular its Article 11) and in the Council Decision of 13 July 2010 (‘the Decision’). Currently [in 2011], under TFTP, data are sent in bulk to the US, to be stored and filtered according to requests of the US Treasury Department. This has raised serious criticism, especially by the European Parliament (and obviously the EDPS and WP29), notably with regard to the necessity and proportionality of the 'bulk' data flows."
Despite significant discussions occurring within the EU around the development of a renewed TFTP agreement, and a SWIFT2 network, this data continues to be passed in full, and against the concerns of the European Data Protection Supervisor, the EU body apparently tasked with evaluating the data privacy implications of EU decisions on EU citizens. The TFTP and SWIFT2 agreements seem to have taken years to come together and amounted to no substantive change, with weak arguments being fielded by SWIFT to the effect that "filtering is not possible" or by the US that "we need immediate access". Furthermore, it appears that intra-European funds seizure by the US is not only possible (given that intra-European transfers continue to be provided the the United States in full) but has been effected recently for matters as strongly related to the health and security of normal EU citizens as the US' continued wishes for an international embargo on Cuban cigar products!
Therefore, as an EU citizen, and under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
(1.0) Information regarding the apparent US-led seizure of an intra-European financial transaction, presumably occurring over the SWIFT network, and outlined in the Danish 'Berlingske' publication of Feburary 26, 2012 at http://www.b.dk/nationalt/dansk-politima...
(1.1) The legal and functional process under which this seizure took place, specifically whether European Union authorities provided pre-approval for the seizure and under which terms, were notified of the seizure, and any and all evidence furnished by the relevant parties in justification.
(1.2) Any available documents regarding European Union internal response to the event, which to the lay observer might be perceived as making a mockery of years of SWIFT2 and TFTP-related "reform".
(2.0) Information regarding the frequency and nature of any other such incidents involving foreign authorities and occurring from January 1, 2010 through present.
(3.0) The identity of any other EU bodies that may hold information related to this request, if Home Affairs does not both hold and wish to furnish any such information themselves.
(4.0) Any and all information regarding any programs within Home Affairs, other bodies of the EU, or external organisations that are presently either considered or in progress to rectigy the claimed technical incapacity of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to filter financial data before passing it wholesale to foreign parties, in particular the United States, in line with the apparent spirit of ongoing recommendations from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).
(4.1) Any and all information regarding any programs within Home Affairs, other bodies of the EU, or external organisations that may be presently either considered or in progress to effect any form of decentralization of interbank financial data exchange (ie. away from an effectively global, SWIFT-held monopoly).
(4.2) Any and all information regarding any investigations that Home Affairs has conducted or is aware, in to the founding, motivations and particularly early history of SWIFT, given its not insignificant appearance in EU politics of late and apparently significant role in warrantless international surveillance of EU and world citizens, especially given that publicly available information[2] suggest that:
(1) it was established as an international cooperative of sorts within Belgium by an ex-American Express executive;
(2) until very recently it always maintained an American president;
(3) it now holds a very powerful global intelligence monopoly on financial information, perhaps paralleled only by US credit card companies (for the developed world) and Western Union (for certain parts of the developing world);
(4) its reportedly significant speed of initial growth required the cooperation of large numbers of international banks, which came exceptionally rapidly though during an era where technology and international business were not as fast-moving as the present;
(5) the recently publicly reported initial establishment of its first international center of operations occurred but a few years after its founding, back in the America familiar to the founding executive, and that this facility was located in the surprising location of Virginia[2], which is not traditionally considered a major financial center, is not mentioned in the SWIFT's official history page on their website, and is also the headquarters of at least one arm of the United States intelligence apparatus, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
German Citizen
[1] European Data Protection Supervisor offers Comments on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 13 July 2011: 'A European terrorist finance tracking system: Available options'. http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav...
[2] SWIFT community mourns loss of Carl Reuterskiöld, SWIFT’s first CEO. Published 2006-03-23, retrieved November 2011. http://www.swift.com/about_swift/press_r...
"1979: The United States Operating Centre is inaugurated by Governor John N. Dalton of Virginia (right). [initial SWIFT president and former Amex executive] Mr Carl Reuterskiöld (left) assists."
Dear Mr Stanisch,
Thank you very much for your request for access to documents dated 8
November 2012. In order to be able to reply to your request we would
kindly ask you to specify the documents to which you request access by
providing us their title or reference number, please.
Many thanks in advance!
Kind regards,
Fatima Darago
On behalf of Ingo Weustenfeld
P.S. As you note in your email that you are a German citizen, we would
like to inform you that you have the right to write your correspondence
with the European Commission in German.
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Home Affairs (HOME)'s handling of my FOI request 'Intra-European Financial Seizures by Foreign Parties'.
My request was clear regarding the types of information I was seeking.
In what appears to be a highly obstructive and bureaucratic move, no confirmation of the original request was received. After waiting patiently, a response was sent only at the very end of the legally allowable response period, obstructively requesting me to supply specific document titles, which is obviously not possible given the nature of the query.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.asktheeu.org/request/intra_eu...
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
Walter Stanish a laissé une remarque ()
I hereby note that at present there are zero (0) responses within the Home Affairs website's public 'Library' section for either of the terms "SWIFT" or "TFTP".
Walter Stanish a laissé une remarque ()
I hereby note that according to the Commission Directory at http://ec.europa.eu/staffdir/plsql/gsys_... Weustenfeld is also located in Brussels (ie. effectively co-located with SWIFT headquarters).
Walter Stanish a laissé une remarque ()
More than one month has now passed with neither acknowledgement or response.
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
I am extremely disappointed not to have received any meaningful response whatsoever from your department with regards to my outstanding freedom of information request dated 8th November, 2012.
At this point, more than three months have passed, and I am concerned that your department is neglecting its legal responsibilities.
Thus far, the only response I have had was dated 2012-11-28, came at the very end of the maximum allowable legal response period, and spuriously requested that I supply specific document numbers that are obviously unavailable to the public.
Due to the unhelpful and obstructive nature of that response, I immediately requested (2012-11-28) an internal review of the handling of my query. After waiting patiently for more than a month, I have received no response whatsoever to that request, which under EU law is well within my legal rights.
Please promptly clarify that status of my request and the internal review requested. Failing an adequate response I may regrettably be forced to consider raising complaints about the department's conduct through external channels.
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
Dear Mr Stanish,
We refer to your emails of 8 November 2012 and 10 February 2013 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 13/11/2012 under the above mentioned reference number.
Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 requires that the applications for access to a document shall be made in a sufficiently precise manner to enable the institution to identify the document. Your application does not specify which documents are requested and therefore we are not able to identify concrete documents which would correspond to your request.
We therefore invite you, pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, to provide us with more detailed information on the documents which you seek to obtain, such as titles, references, dates or periods during which the documents would have been produced, persons or bodies who drafted the documents etc.
If you need assistance in clarifying or specifying your application, you can contact us:
• by email to: [email address]
• by telephone to: +32 (0) 229 21042
The 15 working days the time limit for handling your application will start running when we receive the requested clarifications.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
HOME NOTIFICATIONS A1
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
After many months, it is somewhat surprising to be asked to clarify my original request.
You have claimed that my application did not specify which documents were requested, however the nature of the documents requested was perfectly clear, and I have highlighted the fact that despite your department's responsibility for this area there were a total of zero (0) documents accessible on your website's electronic library section matching either of the terms SWIFT or TFTP (I note of late that there is now one (1) such document).
Before continuing I would like to draw attention to your department's apparent ethics guide for staff: 'CODE ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN DG HOME AFFAIRS and DG JUSTICE' (November 2010 edition), pages 6-7:
"The following "golden rules" of the Practical Guide on Ethics provide an excellent
general guidance basis:
• Serve the public interest, by acting with integrity and being objective and impartial in your work
• Be loyal to the Commission
• Provide citizens and others with the quality service you would expect yourself
• Remember that you are the human face of the Commission and that others will judge the Commission on the basis of what they see and experience
• Carry out the tasks assigned to you with responsibility and to the best of your ability
• Treat your colleagues with respect
• Make sure your conduct is beyond reproach, by not knowingly being a party to an activity that could bring the Commission into disrepute or could cause your impartiality to be questioned
• Ensure that you are aware of the relevant legal obligations, rules and procedures
• If you are unsure whether something you do or are asked to do is ethical, consult the relevant information – including this guide – and if in doubt, ASK your superior or your local human resources unit."
I now repeat the request, with practical clarifications provided after each original point:
(1.0) Information regarding the apparent US-led seizure of an intra-European financial transaction, presumably occurring over the SWIFT network, and outlined in the Danish 'Berlingske' publication
of Feburary 26, 2012 at http://www.b.dk/nationalt/dansk-politima...
(CLARIFICATION: ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS REGARDING THIS SPECIFIC CASE, WHICH YOUR DEPARTMENT MUST HAVE INTERNAL MECHANISMS FOR IDENTIFYING, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE EVIDENCE, PROCESS AND PARTIES INVOLVED IN PROCESSING THE CASE)
(1.1) The legal and functional process under which this seizure took place, specifically whether European Union authorities provided pre-approval for the seizure and under which terms, were notified of the seizure, and any and all evidence furnished by the
relevant parties in justification.
(CLARIFICATION: REFERENCES TO PROCESS DOCUMENTS FOLLOWED DURING THE ABOVE CASE, IN PARTICULAR IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC PARTIES IF ANY WHOSE APPROVAL WAS REQUESTED PRIOR TO FINANCIAL SEIZURE ACTIONS)
(1.2) Any available documents regarding European Union internal response to the event, which to the lay observer might be perceived as making a mockery of years of SWIFT2 and TFTP-related "reform".
(CLARIFICATION: ANY HOME AFFAIRS HELD DOCUMENTS ENCOMPASSING COMMUNICATIONS WITH AND/OR NOTICES FROM ANY OTHER BODY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EITHER IN THE PRIVATE OR PUBLIC SECTOR, AND/OR INTERNAL DOCUMENTS WITHIN THE HOME AFFAIRS RELATING TO THIS CASE IN ANY WAY)
(2.0) Information regarding the frequency and nature of any other such incidents involving foreign authorities and occurring from January 1, 2010 through present.
(CLARIFICATION: OTHER SUCH INCIDENTS SHOULD BE DEFINED AS INSTANCES OF FINANCIAL SEIZURE INVOLVING REQUESTS FROM AND/OR COMMUNICATIONS WITH FOREIGN AUTHORITIES.)
(3.0) The identity of any other EU bodies that may hold information related to this request, if Home Affairs does not both hold and wish to furnish any such information themselves.
(CLARIFICATION: BASIC REQUEST WITH NO CLARIFICATION REQUIRED)
(4.0) Any and all information regarding any programs within Home Affairs, other bodies of the EU, or external organisations that are presently either considered or in progress to rectify the claimed
technical incapacity of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to filter financial data before passing it wholesale to foreign parties, in particular the United
States, in line with the apparent spirit of ongoing recommendations from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).
(CLARIFICATION: THE DEPARTMENT IS WELCOME TO PRESENT ANY AND ALL EVIDENCE THAT, IN LINE WITH THE EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS, IT HAS ENCOURAGED AND SUPPORTED THE RECTIFICATION OF THE CURRENT AND UNDESIRABLE SITUATION, IE. THE LOSS OF INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL PRIVACY FOR ALL EUROPEAN CITIZENS DUE TO THE FORWARDING OF ALL INTERNATIONAL SWIFT TRANSACTIONS TO UNITED STATES AUTHORITIES SINCE AT LEAST 200! (SOURCE: EDPS COMMUNICATIONS, PREVIOUSLY CITED) EITHER IN THE PAST, OR ON AN ONGOING BASIS THROUGH THE PRESENT, SHOWINGS ITS CLEAR DESIRE TO FULLY RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS BOTH WITHIN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE.)
(4.1) Any and all information regarding any programs within Home Affairs, other bodies of the EU, or external organisations that may be presently either considered or in progress to effect any form of
decentralization of interbank financial data exchange (ie. away from an effectively global, SWIFT-held monopoly).
(CLARIFICATION: THE DEPARTMENT IS WELCOME TO PRESENT ANY DOCUMENTS HELD THAT SUGGEST ANY FORM OF MEANINGFUL RESPONSE TO CONCERNS RAISED BY THE EDPS WITH RESPECT TO SWIFT/TFTP AND INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY LOSS ARISING FROM THE PRESENT SITUATION - INCLUDING DOCUMENTS OUTSIDE OF THE IMMEDIATE SCOPE OF SWIFT, FOR EXAMPLE ANY EVALUATION OF OR SUPPORT FOR ALTERNATIVE INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT NETWORKS OR PARADIGMS.)
(4.2) Any and all information regarding any investigations that Home Affairs has conducted or is aware, in to the founding, motivations and particularly early history of SWIFT, given its not
insignificant appearance in EU politics of late and apparently significant role in warrantless international surveillance of EU and world citizens, especially given that publicly available
information[2] suggest that:
(1) it was established as an international cooperative of sorts
within Belgium by an ex-American Express executive;
(2) until very recently it always maintained an American
president;
(3) it now holds a very powerful global intelligence monopoly on financial information, perhaps paralleled only by US credit card companies (for the developed world) and Western Union (for certain parts of the developing world);
(4) its reportedly significant speed of initial growth required the cooperation of large numbers of international banks, which came exceptionally rapidly though during an era where technology and international business were not as fast-moving as the present;
(5) the recently publicly reported initial establishment of its first international center of operations occurred but a few years after its founding, back in the America familiar to the founding
executive, and that this facility was located in the surprising location of Virginia[2], which is not traditionally considered a major financial center, is not mentioned in the SWIFT's official
history page on their website, and is also the headquarters of at least one arm of the United States intelligence apparatus, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
(CLARIFICATION: ANY DOCUMENTS HELD BY THE DEPARTMENT REGARDING THE SWIFT ORGANIZATION'S HISTORY, OBJECTIVES, INTERNAL PROCESSES OR ONGOING MOTIVATIONS ... GIVEN ITS EXTREME AND ONGOING GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE SIGNIFICANCE AND RECENT APPEARANCE WITHIN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT)
Having waited for a response since November last year, and having now humoured your request to clarify further, I hereby request a meaningful and complete response within the 15 day limit (by March 3, 2013). Naturally, if required, please feel free to request any minor clarifications during this period, and I will endeavour to respond to them promptly.
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
German Citizen
[1] European Data Protection Supervisor offers Comments on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 13 July 2011: 'A European terrorist
finance tracking system: Available options'.
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav...
[2] SWIFT community mourns loss of Carl Reuterskiöld, SWIFT’s first CEO. Published 2006-03-23, retrieved November 2011.
http://www.swift.com/about_swift/press_r...
"1979: The United States Operating Centre is inaugurated by Governor John N. Dalton of Virginia (right). [initial SWIFT president and former Amex executive] Mr Carl Reuterskiöld (left)
assists."
Dear Mr Stanish,
We refer to your emails of 8 November 2012 and 10 February 2013 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 13/11/2012 under the above mentioned reference number.
DG Home Affairs is not aware of the event you refer to in your emails and therefore could not identify any documents related to it.
Yours faithfully,
HOME NOTIFICATIONS A1
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Home Affairs (HOME)'s handling of my FOI request 'Intra-European Financial Seizures by Foreign Parties'.
The nature of my request has been clear. The replies may be fairly characterised as obstructive and unhelpful.
Please confirm receipt of this message and the initiation of an internal Freedom of Information review including the expected timeframe of said review, immediately.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.asktheeu.org/request/intra_eu...
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
Walter Stanish a laissé une remarque ()
The link http://bit.ly/146vljQ is the original Danish Article translated to English via Google Translate.
Dear Home Affairs (HOME),
I am extremely surprised not to have received any response whatsoever to my recent request for an internal review regarding my outstanding FOI request dated 2012-11-08, which your department has repeatedly failed to address.
Please provide an update on the status of the request immediately or I will be forced to forward your department's conduct in this matter for external and/or public review.
Yours faithfully,
Walter Stanish
Dear Mr Stanish,
Kindly find herewith a letter concerning your confirmatory application for
access to documents (gestdem 2012/5241).
Yours sincerely,
Carlos Remis
SG.B.5.
Transparence.
Berl. 05/329.
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 5:46 PM
To: [FOI #260 email]
Subject: Confirmatory application for access to documents pursuant to
Regulation 1049-2001 - GESTDEM 2012-5241 - STANISH
Dear Mr Stanish,
Kindly find herewith a letter concerning your confirmatory application for
access to documents (gestdem 2012-5241).
Yours sincerely,
Paul SIMON
Unit SG.B.5, Transparency
European Commission
Subject: Your confirmatory application for access to documents under
Regulation (EC) N° 1049-2001 - GESTDEM 2012-5241 - STANISH
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:36:59 +0000
From: <[email address]>
To: <[FOI #260 email]>
Dear Mr Stanish,
Kindly find the answer to your confirmatory application concerning your
request for access to documents pursuant to Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents (*gestdem**201**2-5241*).
******
Yours sincerely,
Paul SIMON
Unit SG.B.5, Transparency
European Commission
Walter Stanish a laissé une remarque ()
Ingo Weustenfeld is apparently 'Policy Officer, counter-terrorism prevention, European Commission DG Home Affairs'.
EC DG Home Affairs is a Directorate-General of the European Commission created in 2010 when the DG Justice, Freedom and Security was split in two. As one of its first acts after creation appears to have been to approve some of the policy whose information is under query, I maintain reservations regarding the impartiality of the response given the stated source (the AML policy officer), the lack of an earlier response, and the obstructive nature of the reply.