Switzerland aiming to become the global dats vault

Switzerland, facing an erosion of the banking secrecy laws that helped make it the world's banker, is now touting its reputation as a safe and stable haven to become a global data vault.

More and more companies are flocking to the wealthy Alpine country to stock data in an era of increasing espionage and hacking, and the Swiss are reaping the benefits of the paranoia.

"Data storage is the new El Dorado for Switzerland. It's a real boom," said Franz Grüeter, the managing director of Green.ch, a leading data storage firm that has posted 30 per cent annual growth since it was set up in 1995. Thanks to Switzerland's long-held banking secrecy tradition, the country enjoys a global reputation for security and privacy.

But amid international pressure, the country is being forced to shed the protective shield that has made its banks so attractive, and has agreed within the next two years to automatically exchange account details with other countries. While Swiss banks are suffering, the country's data storage companies are booming.

In the wake of revelations from former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden of widespread snooping by the National Security Agency, they are touting Switzerland's cherished reputation to draw clients from around the globe.

"Clients need confidence, discretion, reliability and stability. These have been the country's hallmarks forever," said Grüeter, who says more than one billion francs (HK$8.58 billion) have been invested in data centres in the country over the past five years. With its 61 data centres, tiny Switzerland is currently Europe's fifth largest data hub, according to the Data Centre Map website.