Bank's Duty of Confidentiality

Extract

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Bank's Duty of Confidentiality

Article by Michael Kutschera, Thomas Schirmer and Alexander Kramer

Assessment of the banks' taxes

There is no bank secrecy to the extent that a disclosure of bank secrets is necessary for the assessment of taxes to be paid by the banks themselves: BWG, s 38(3). Certainly, bank secrets obtained by the (fiscal) authorities in such manner are subject to official secrecy and must not be passed on to other public authorities or used in whatever manner in regard to third parties to which such bank secrets relate.

Exchange control, income tax, FMA, deposit protection facilities, bank auditors, Ombudsman, Audit Office, trustee in bankruptcy

There is further no bank secrecy with respect to the Austrian National Bank's right to certain information in matters of exchange control,57 with respect to certain notice requirements under the Income Tax Act or other revenue laws, further, in regard to the right to information of, and the duty of disclosure to, the FMA in its function as bank regulatory authority (BWG, s 69ff) and as securities supervisory authority (BWG, s 38(2), no 9),58 the deposit protection facilities (BWG, s 38(2), no 2 in connection with ss 93 and 93a), the bank auditors (BWG, s 38(2), no 2 in connection with s 61(1)), the Audit Office (Rechnungshof) and the Ombudsman (Volksanwalt), and towards the trustee in bankruptcy in bankruptcy or reorganisation proceedings.

Foreign bank regulatory authorities

Pursuant to s 77 of the BWG, the FMA may give official information to foreign bank regulatory authorities provided:

the ordre public, other essential interests of the Republic of Austria, bank secrecy and the revenues law duty of confidentiality are not violated ther...

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