The Swiss seek any excuse to renege

UPDATE 1-Swiss seek French tax deal freeze over HSBC breach | Reuters .

Switzerland wants to freeze a treaty aimed at helping France catch tax cheats after Paris
obtained used stolen client data, some of which was taken from
HSBC's  offshore banking headquarters in Geneva.

 "I am requesting the responsible commission of parliament's
upper house, which is going to be dealing with this tax treaty
at the beginning of February, to cease negotiations on the
double tax treaty until we have clarity about what happened,"
Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said.

But not a hint that HSBC is being investigated for handling funds the French think tax evaded.

Which shows exactly where Swiss sentiment remains: on the side of the criminal.