Facts
The dispute concerns a request for international administrative assistance in tax matters with the United States of America. A bank employee, A., opposes the transmission of his name to the American authorities as part of an administrative assistance procedure. Bank B. SA, where A. worked, handed over bank documents to the Federal Tax Administration, with A.'s name redacted. The Federal Administration then ordered the documents to be handed over without redaction.
A. filed a request for superprovisional and provisional measures with the civil courts in Geneva to prohibit the transmission of his data to third parties or third countries. The Geneva Court of First Instance prohibited the Bank from transmitting data containing A.'s name.
The Federal Administration declared A.'s conclusions inadmissible, but the Federal Administrative Court admitted the appeal and annulled the Federal Administration's decision. The Federal Administration filed a public law appeal with the Federal Court, which rejected the appeal.
Considerations
The Federal Court considered that the bank employee, A., had standing to appeal against the Federal Administration's decision to transmit his name to the American authorities. Art. 19 para. 2 of the Federal Act on International Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (TAAA) provides that persons who meet the conditions set out in Art. 48 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) have standing to appeal.
The Federal Court estimated that A. had a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 48 APA, as he was directly concerned by the decision to transmit his name to the American authorities. Art. 4 para. 3 TAAA provides that the transmission of information concerning persons who are not concerned by the request is excluded, unless such information is likely to be relevant for the assessment of the tax situation of the person concerned.
The Federal Court also considered that A.'s personal data protection was at stake, as the data revealing his identity fell…