‘The notion of bank secrecy appeared in 1990, but, since it was quite a long time ago, some problems appear to arise due to a possible legal loophole: on the one hand, the authorities are allowed to demand that the banks produce records that can be classed as a secret, on the other hand, the banks are allowed to refuse to do so in some cases. This is why the legal definition of bank secrecy is still a burning issue,’ the Deputy Chairman of Ural Bankers’ Union Evgeniy Bolotin said to UrBC representative, relating to the recent proposal by the State Duma Deputies about the limitation of the law-enforcement agencies’ access to bank records.

The deputies suggest compiling a very detailed list of instances when the law-enforcement agencies are allowed to ask for bank records; the list should include references to the articles of the Russian Federation Criminal Code. This would eliminate the existing bank secrecy definition and procedure gap.

According to Mr Bolotin, another reason why it is important to define the notion is that any evasive definition is subdued to unacceptably many interpretations.