US Terrorism Investigators Granted Access to EU Accounts

Katie Pavlich | July 08, 2010 8:59 AM

According to Reuters, after much negotiation the European Union and the United States have come to an agreement allowing US terrorism investigators to access EU bank transfer information.

The five-year agreement will go into effect in August, giving investigators access to information collected by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which records most money transfers in the world.

U.S. investigators have tracked cash linked to suspected terrorists since the Sept 11 attacks on the United States, but their access to the data has fanned controversy in Europe because of concerns over privacy.