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Bank Secrecy: Provisions of Laws; 2000

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Sources Secrecy laws Availability of Num-

bered Accounts(1993)

Punishment of banks officials for violation of bank secrecy

Netherlands 1 No wri tten law, the country rel ies on the pr inciples gleanedfrom the intent of the law to define bank secrecy.

No Moderate fines/sentences

Portugal 1 Due to the revolut ion of 1974 Portugal has been attempting toincrease faith in the government. To that end Decree Law 2/78

was passed stating that the utmost concern must be shown"...for the safeguarding of bank secrecy".

No n.a.

Spain 1 No express provis ion establ ishing secrecy, yet a secrecyclause exists in the bylaws of the Bank of Spain.

No Moderate fines/six month prison terms

Sweden 1 General provisions states, "...the relations of individuals to abank may not be disclosed without legal causes".

No General generic laws out line f ines/reimbursement

United Kingdom 1 No written law, Tournier v. National Provincial and Union Bankof England (1924) created a clear definition of bank secrecy,although recent court decisions have weakened it.

No n.a.

Switzerland 1, 3 Switzerland's neutrality - which caused many refugees andJews to deposit money there - has led to the passage of banksecrecy acts which are generally amongst Europe's strongest.

 As a society, Switzerland believes strongly in the principle of bank secrecy.

Yes  Article 47 makes it a criminal offence for anyonewho is or has worked in the banking industry toreveal information. The punishment if found doingso is six months and/or a fine of CHF 50,000.

Japan 4 People have the right to the pursuit of happiness, "so long as it

does not interfere with society at large" (Article 13). This canbe extrapolated to secrecy in the private sector, includingbanks.

No n.a.

United States 1, 9 Right to Financial Privacy Act (1978) allows information to bedisclosed only with customer authorization, a search warrant,

or a subpoena.

No Fines/punishment exist, but salient punishmentsonly truly exist if you fail  to report suspicious activ-

ity. These fines range from USD100,000 - 500,000.

Sources:

1. Campbell, Dennis, "International Bank Secrecy"; Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1992.2. Dahm, Joachim, "Bankgeheimnis and Bankauskunft in der Praxis"; Dt. Genossenschafts-Verl., Wiesbaden, 1995.

3. Darmine, Jean, "European Banking in the 1990's," Oxford : Blackwell, 1993.4. Mikitani, Ryoichi; Hagankuwayama, Patrica, "Japan's New Central Banking Law - A Critical View"; Center for Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia University.5. Ralf, Miebach, "Das Bankgeheimnis"; Heymann, Köln, 1999.

6. http://www.law.nyu.edu/centralbankscenter/ −  7. http://www.lectlaw.com. −  8. http://www.theeconomist.com. −  9. http://www.rpifs.com.