“Disclosure of banking secrecy in Ukraine: how soon will it happen and what are the risksThe Minister of Finance is in favor of disclosing banking secrecy to the tax service. Experts warn about the risks of outflow of
funds from banks and violation of international conventions.”, — write: unn.ua
The meaning of banking secrecy is that information about transactions with bank accounts is provided by the client himself, i.e. no one else has the right to access this information
According to him, the client can give a power of attorney to any other person to manage his banking secrecy. Only then will this person be entitled to such information.
Mr. Yuriy notes that a client can also sign a bank agreement stating that he or she gives the bank permission to disclose his or her bank secrecy. In this case, the bank will have the full right to disclose it.
“That is, it is like a lawyer’s or doctor’s secret. This is the story that is needed for customer trust and transparency of money circulation. Its global goal is to reduce corruption and build trust in the banking system,” Babenko says.
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As for the Ministry of Finance’s desire to disclose banking secrecy, the expert believes that this contradicts European values. “I don’t see any logic in his words. The Ministry of Finance is hiding behind the “requirements” of European integration, but in Europe, on the contrary, property rights are valued – they are not violated. Funds are equated to property, so they are subject to the same requirements for the inviolability of property rights as property. All European countries have bank secrecy, and it is disclosed only through the courts,” the expert explains.
According to him, this is a fairly common problem in Ukraine. Law enforcement agencies have the right to apply to the court for disclosure of banking secrecy, and the court must issue a ruling on this. When it does, law enforcement agencies apply to banks to disclose banking secrecy.
“In our country, we have problems with the fact that such petitions are poorly argued and the courts almost always allow disclosure of bank secrecy in response to such applications from law enforcement agencies. But this does not mean that this arbitrariness should be enshrined in law.
Why does the Ministry of Finance need to do this? Most likely, to show people that they want to eradicate corruption and to make everyone open about tax issues,” Babenko says.
He explains that disclosing banking secrecy would violate not only domestic law but also international conventions.
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When asked by a journalist how this will affect Ukrainians, Mitrax CEO Yuriy Babenko answered:
“There will definitely be an outflow of funds from banks. People will not understand this topic. There will be a certain excitement among citizens.
The expert gave an example of people’s panic when they had to agree to disclose their bank secrets when applying for Winter eSupport.
“It doesn’t matter whether those accounts are opened for the tax authorities or someone else, it will cause an outflow of funds,” the expert added.
Babenko answered the journalist’s question about how long the procedure for disclosing bank secrecy at the legislative level could take in theory:
“It will not happen quickly. The Civil Code must be amended, and it will take at least six months to do so.”
Recall
Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko said that banking secrecy only protects “thieves and criminals.
In his opinion, the tax service should have access to the financial data of Ukrainians protected by banking secrecy.
The National Bank responded to this statement:
“The importance of the institution of banking secrecy is no less important than the principle of presumption of innocence, which is the foundation of trust in society, as defined in the Constitution,” said NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny.