Banks want data pulled from US

The central banks of China and Russia have joined private companies in calling on Swift, the international financial intermediary, to pull all non-US data from America, The Register has learned.

SWIFT has found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. The organisation secretly handed over personal data to comply with demands from the US to aid the country's investigation into terrorist finances after the September 11 attacks. By doing so, it broke the data protection laws of many EU countries.

China and Russia were "notable" among countries whose central banks had expressed their concerns to Swift. The European Central Bank, which also used Swift's services, has been criticised by EU authorities for letting the EU look at European financial data in secret.

Swift is trying to break into the domestic banking markets in China and Russia and is keen to get off on the right foot with local authorities. In India, where Swift is also trying to make a splash, the banks are said to be investigating alternatives.