Minister: banks are becoming too intrusive

Høgni Hoydal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, has called the country’s financial institutions in for talks about registration of personal data.

“It is unacceptable that financial institutions, in their fight against money laundering, demand information about anyone who has some relation to a politician,” he says.

This comes after Rúna Sivertsen, the deputy leader of Sjálvstýri (self-government party), on Saturday spoke of the shock she experienced when she received a letter from her bank asking for sensitive information about her close relatives in connection with money laundering.

runa_s.png

Caption: 

Enough is enough, says Rúna Sivertsen, the deputy leader of Sjálvstýri (self-government party)

 >> SEE ALSO New money laundering law

“It is a threat to our democracy when politicians are required to provide all sorts of personal information about their spouse, children, colleagues and others because the banks need this information to protect themselves against money laundering,” she said.

“This is where I draw the line. There is no way I will give them sensitive information about my children.”

Trade minister Hoydal agrees with Sivertsen, saying the banks have clearly overstepped the line in this case.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.