Attacking anyone whose name may appear on a list of people with deposits outside of Greece, as was the case with numerous people on the so-called Lagarde list of Geneva HSBC depositors, is unconscionable. We have seen people in the cross hairs of public opinion who are able to fully justify the provenance of their foreign deposits and who have paid all their taxes.

Of course it is the job of auditing authorities to examine every name on such lists, methodically and quietly, in order to determine whether there are tax cheats among them or civil servants whose salaries do not justify their having large deposits at foreign banks. But, publishing the names of everyone that may appear on such a list without the proper process of examination having been conducted first, by the proper authorities, is not just unfair for those who are later proven to have nothing to hide from the law – it can also prove dangerous.