November 14, 2013 - The Belgian and Dutch Data Protection Authorities are to conduct an investigation into security at Swift following allegations that data transmitted over the interbank network was spied on by the US National Security Authority.

The two DPAs says they intend to determine "whether third parties could gain unauthorised or unlawful access to European citizens' bank data".

Last month, European parliamentarians voted in favour of suspending an EU/US bank data sharing deal in response to the NSA's alleged eavesdropping activities.

The resolution also called for a "full on-site technical investigation" as to whether US authorities had created possible "back doors" into the Swift servers.

Swift says it is co-operating with the DPA's appraisal. "There is no evidence at this time to suggest that there has been any form of confidentiality breach," states the banking co-operative. "Swift takes these matters extremely seriously and looks forward to confirming the positive outcome of this DPA review."