The Verkhovna Rada adopted in full draft law No. 15555, which improves the procedure for disclosure by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of information constituting banking secrecy, the press service of the Verkhovna Rada’s apparatus reported. The document restricts access to such information in civil and commercial proceedings.
Prohibition of access in civil and commercial proceedings
The draft law provides for a prohibition on access to information constituting banking secrecy that was obtained by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) from the supervisory authorities of other member states of the European Union (EU) in the course of civil and commercial proceedings. This means that such materials cannot be used as evidence in the relevant courts.
Banking secrecy is confidential information about clients, transactions and banks’ internal data, access to which is restricted by law and intended to protect commercial and personal information.
Conditions for disclosure of information by the National Bank
The document clarifies under what conditions the NBU may disclose such information. The NBU will be able to share it only with the consent of the supervisory authority of the other state and solely for the purposes specified in that consent.
“The purpose of the draft law is to bring the procedure for disclosure of information constituting banking secrecy, received by the National Bank of Ukraine from the supervisory authority of another state, into line with the requirements of European Union (EU) legislation,” the statement says. Previously the Verkhovna Rada adopted this draft law in principle on 13 October.
Purpose of the draft law and expected consequences
According to the explanatory note, the draft was developed to meet the conditions for closing negotiating chapter 9 “Financial services” in the context of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, to implement Directive 2013/36/EU and taking into account the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policy with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It is expected that the adoption of the changes will allow the National Bank to receive a positive assessment from the European Banking Authority regarding the equivalence of the confidentiality regime and to remove obstacles to full exchange of information between the NBU, central banks and regulators of EU member states.
