Confidentiality

Increasingly, in today Banking, the legal and regulatory environment has added pressures to disclosure of information. Regulators require more information,and the freedom to share it with counter parties, to perform their functions.Tax authorities want information on taxpayers. International anti-money laundering initiatives have resulted in the imposition of positive obligations on bankers(and others) to give information on customers to governmental authorities where suspicions arise as to the nature of their dealings.

However, it is evident that the basic concept of keeping a customers affairs confidential is still regarded as an important element of the banker-customer relationships in many clients. The trust which this engenders is viewed as being fundamental to a professional relationship. Indeed, in recent years, banks in one country have been able to attract deposits from customers who have apparently became wary of the erosion of bank confidentiality in other countries.

It is generally lawful for such customers to maintain a bank account with a Bank outside his country of residence. This does not, however, exempt the account holder from the obligation to declare any resultant interest income to the revenue authorities in his home country. The first of these propositions has proved to be popular; the second, perhaps inevitably, has been greeted with less enthusiasm.

The opportunities for tax avoidance offered by such accounts have been further enhanced by the use of "linked" debit or credit cards. The holder can thereby make use of his funds without first having to transfer them to an onshore account, where they might fall under the gaze of the local revenue inspectors.

For Bancoii, disclosure of information relating to bank accounts will expose the bank to civil claims for breach of the duty of confidentiality. Indeed, criminal penalties may be incurred by the Bank. In our Bancoii Business Banking Code, art. 11, we maintain that we will treat all your personal and business information as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer).We will not reveal your name and address or details about your accounts to anyone, including other companies in our group, other than in four exceptional cases when we are allowed to do this by law, including if you ask us to reveal the information, or if we have your permission.