The EU-US Swift Agreement; Which Fate Under the Lisbon Data Protection Framework?

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) allows for instant exchange of electronic payment messages among 90% of banks worldwide. Excitement over possibilities of making fast and secure money transfers via SWIFT at times overshadows the fact that such transfers often involve a lot more than simply 'passing on' money. When individuals transfer money through SWIFT, they share personal information, such as sender and receiver's names, countries of residence and account details. Few of SWIFT users are aware that this data can be transferred outside the EU and later used for legitimate purposes, different from those of business and commerce. This work explores legal implications represented by the EU-US agreement regulating the use of the SWIFT data for one of such purposes - namely, preventing terrorism by means of tracking terrorist finance. Can the agreement be considered in accordance with the European data protection law? Which legal criteria are crucial to defining the European data protection standard after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty? What legal remedies are available? How do the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights try to strike a fair balance between the goals of terrorism prevention and the protection of personal data?