Yet another Switzerland-based bank has fallen victim to the theft of client data, with Zurich-listed Julius Baer reporting loss of information concerning German customers.

Yet another Switzerland-based bank has fallen victim to the theft of client data, with Zurich-listed Julius Baer reporting loss of information concerning German customers, it confirmed to this publication today.

"According to what we know, this is the case," chief executive Boris Collardi told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper at the weekend. "As part of our stepped-up controls and a thorough internal investigation we recently discovered a case of data misuse and were able to identify the alleged thief."

The publication said the stolen data on clients found its way into the hands of tax investigators in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia, with the thief paid an undisclosed sum. The suspect, a bank employee working in Zurich, acted alone and has been arrested.

This is not the first time that Julius Baer has been hit by such a theft. The bank agreed last year with German authorities to pay €50 million ($63 million) to end an investigation over undeclared client assets in a separate case of data theft. Rudolf Elmer, who worked for Julius Baer’s Cayman Islands unit until December 2002, handed over data on about 2,000 cross- border accounts to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange last year. Elmer was later detained by Swiss prosecutors investigating whether he broke banking secrecy laws.

Among other banks to have suffered in recent years a loss of data subsequently used in investigations against alleged tax evaders are HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland (the thefts affected 15,000 live accounts); Credit Suisse and LGT, the Liechtenstein-based private banking group.

Controversially, authorities in Germany have paid for stolen bank data, an issue which both highlights a determination to stamp out tax evasion via Switzerland even if this means pushing aside due process of law.

Recent months have been positive for Julius Baer, which recently announced it is buying the non-US wealth management business of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.