When Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York hailed the historic accord between the Swiss banks and Jewish groups over Holocaust-era accounts, a young Swiss man stood by his side.
Mr Christoph Meili, perhaps the world's most famous security guard, declared on Wednesday in New York that he was proud to have played a part in resolving the long saga over Jewish accounts which effectively put Switzerland on trial.
The conclusion of the affair came with a $1.25 billion deal agreed in New York between the United Bank of Switzerland, Credit Suisse and US Holocaust survivors.
Senator D'Amato, chairman of the Senate Banking Commission, said Mr Meili had been an inspiration, and that no accord would have been possible without him.
In January 1997, when the battle over Jewish-owned dormant accounts and Swiss purchases of looted Nazi gold was at its height, Mr Meili was fired by the security company he worked for. He was charged with violating bank secrecy laws by handing over to Jewish organisations in Zurich Nazi-era documents from the archives of the Union Bank of Switzerland which he had saved from the shredders. UBS (which has since been incorporated into the United Bank of Switzerland), did not file a complaint, but the discovery automatically prompted a court case against Mr Meili. Many Swiss felt he was a traitor to his country. He was also described as a religious firebrand. Mr Meili himself told the media he had received numerous threats against his life and that of his family.
In July, fearing for his safety, he left Switzerland and arrived in the United States where he was helped by Jewish organisations, and secured permanent residency thanks to a special Congressional legislative act. Wherever he travelled in the United States he was hailed as the "good Swiss", representing the face of justice battling against greedy banks and anti-semitism.
In Switzerland, on the other hand, he was portrayed as a pawn of US politicians who was easily manipulated. But the case against Mr Meili embarrassed the government and Swiss judicial authorities. The prosecuting judge, Mr Peter Cosandey, found a legal loophole and closed the file in October 1997.
Swiss newspapers reported with glee that Mr Meili's shining star in the United States was starting to fade and that the exiled Swiss felt uprooted and alienated.
But in January 1998 he went on the offensive and launched a legal case against the Union Bank of Switzerland. The agreement reached in New York on Wednesday in principle ends years of legal wrangling, and closes Mr Meili's case.