Swiss court clears ex-banker who gave secrets to WikiLeaks

GENEVA (AP) - Switzerland's high court has upheld the acquittal of a former private banker who handed over confidential client information to WikiLeaks, ruling he wasn't bound by the country's strict banking secrecy laws at the time.

The Federal Tribunal validated a ruling by Zurich's regional supreme court in the case of Rudolf Elmer, a former top accountant at a Cayman Islands affiliate of Swiss bank Julius Baer who was fired in 2002.

The tribunal agreed Wednesday that as an employee of the affiliate, Elmer wasn't bound by Swiss banking secrecy laws when he gave the information to WikiLeaks in 2008.

The secret-busting group went public with the information in 2011. The case increased pressure on Switzerland to relax its strict banking secrecy rules.

The tribunal upheld convictions against Elmer on other charges.