The silver lining is this: under US rules, any whistleblower can be awarded between 15 and 30 per cent of the fines levied as a result of his disclosure. Last February, UBS paid a fine to the US of some $780 million (it would have been far cheaper to retain Mr Birkenfeld on the bank’s staff whatever his demands). Dean Zerbe, Mr Birkenfield’s lawyer, has confirmed to various media, including the Wall Street Journal, that he has made such an application. “He did not just provide a piece of the puzzle, he gave the whole puzzle.” He says referring to the actions of his client.

The Internal Revenue Service is also quoted as saying that the IRS would probably have never discovered UBS’s abuse of the Qualified Intermediary agreement that they signed in the early part of the decade had it not been for Mr Birkenfeld.

If Mr Birkenfeld is successful in his application, he may find that his monthly salary for staying in jail for an as yet to be determined period is effectively much higher than anything he could have earned as a private banker.

A silver lining indeed.