Neate and Godfrey: Bank Confidentiality deals with the topical subject of the duties or obligations of confidentiality or secrecy which banks owe to their customers in 37 countries around the world. The ways in which banks may be obliged to disclose information in court proceedings or to assist the authorities in combating money laundering or the funding of terrorism and wider international anti-money laundering initiatives are also considered.

Since the financial crisis in some jurisdictions, politicians have been increasingly keen to reduce levels of bank secrecy. Conversely there is also pressure to protect customers’ information and prevent identity theft.

Each chapter sets out the basic rules of confidentiality – the nature, extent and source of those rules – and examines their civil and criminal nature, the remedies available for breach of those obligations and the extent to which conflicts of interest arise and how data protection legislation operates in relevant jurisdictions. Each contributor then analyses these issues in the light of statutory and non-statutory frameworks of civil and criminal law in their jurisdiction.

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