The essay begins with the December 2008 arrest of Hervé Falciani, an employee of Swiss banking giant HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation). Given the sacrosanct nature of privacy in Swiss banking law, the arrest of an employee for suspected data theft was “shocking” (206). After Falciani persuaded investigators to let him return home to his family and resume questioning later, he fled to his parents in the south of France. The data Falciani stole comprised a trove of useful evidence about tax evasion, a significant global problem, representing as much as “$21 trillion beyond the reach of tax authorities” (208). During the 2008 recession, French authorities saw Falciani as a moral crusader.

Keefe was struck by Falciani’s conventional good looks and immaculate dress during their first meeting in 2014. Falciani grew up in Monaco, another global financial center that facilitates tax evasion, and became a specialist in data security. When he joined the company, HSBC had a reputation for transactions that aided corrupt regimes and organized crime, as well as for helping clients store assets in overseas shell corporations that existed only for this purpose. Swiss banks tended to operate without paper records, in face-to-face meetings and telephone calls.