Extrait de "Numbered Account", de Christopher Reich, Dell Publishing 1998, p. 16.

M. Sprecher, de l'United Swiss Bank, explique le métier à un nouveau :

"Most of our clients are individuals who hold numbered accounts with the bank. You might see their names penciled somewhere inside their files. Penciled, mind you. Erasable. They are to remain officially anonymous. We don't keep permanent records regarding their identity in the office. That information is kept in DZ, Dokumentation Zentrale [...] Any inclination you may have about getting to know [the name of a client] personnaly had better stop now [...]

Here's the drill. A client will call, give you his account number, probably want to know his cash balance or the value of the stocks in his portfolio. Before you give out any information, confirm his or her identity . All our clients have code words to identify themselves. Ask for it. Maybe ask their birthday in top of that. Makes them feel secure. But that's as far as your curiosity runs. If a client wants to transfer fifty thousand deutsche marks a week to an account in Palermo, you say, 'Prego, Signore. Con gusto." If he insists on sending monthly cash wires to a dozen John Does at a dozen different banks in Washington, D.C., you say, "Of course, sir. It's my pleasure." Where our client's money comes from and what they choose to do with him are entirely their own business".