Bank Secrecy (A Comparative Study)

Banks usually work to protect the secrets of their customers in order to protect the credit and it is not permissible to disclose these secrets but only in certain cases for the benefit of the credit or in exceptional cases estimated by law. The present study sheds light on the trends of comparative legislation on the protection of bank secrecy between Iraqi and French laws. The Iraqi law regulated the banking secrecy in the articles (52-49) of the Banking Law, and the French legislator regulated banking secrecy in the Article (57). The legislator also regulated in the law of monetary the financial professional secrecy in Article (511-33) and its paragraphs which prohibited the managers of Banks and its employees to reveal the financial information belonging to the clients of the banks. Banks in Iraq and France are subject to the control of the Central Bank and are committed to its regulations especially to reveal and inform about any suspected financial operations or crimes. Banning revealing bank secrecy shall be subject to any information relating to the affairs of the bank or its customers or other banks subject to the supervision of the Central Bank. Finally, the study recommends increasing the penalty for the crime of disclosure of bank secrecy.