German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated Monday that her government might consider buying stolen data said to be containing a list of tax evaders hiding money in secret bank accounts in Switzerland, provided the list is real.
"Everything should be done to get this data," Merkel told a news conference in Berlin. "We should aim to acquire this data if it is relevant."
She, however, added that the first move by the German government should be to hold discussions with the involved countries to avoid future complications and disputes over the issue.
Merkel's remarks came after Financial Times Deutschland reported that an informant who once worked at British bank HSBC in Geneva has offered to sell data on some 1,500 bank clients to the German government.
The report identified the informant as Herve Falciani, a former IT specialist at the HSBC in Geneva. Falciani has reportedly offered to sell the data for $3.5 million, which the German media estimates would benefit the government at least $100 million if it buys the list.
Meanwhile, German officials said that the government's legal advisers were studying the legal implications connected to the purchase of the data, as the information about the tax evaders could have been obtained illegally.
In the meantime, several German officials indicated that the government might consider a 2008 "precedent" involving Liechtenstein, another Alpine country that was known as a tax haven.
In 2008, the German secret service paid $7 million for a similar list of German citizens who had secret accounts in Liechtenstein. The information obtained from the purchase unearthed names of over 100 German nationals who had stashed nearly $4 billion in secret accounts in Liechtenstein banks.
The information from Liechtenstein banks exposed some high profile German tax evaders, including Deutsche Post chief Klaus Zumwinkel. He was awarded a two-year suspended jail sentence and a hefty fine after he admitted to hiding cash in secret Liechtenstein bank accounts.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.