Issue of expanding access to bank secrets needs careful approach, could undermine trust - Nabiullina
MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) - The issue of expanding access to bank secrets must be approached very carefully, as this could undermine trust in the banking sector and lead to an outflow of funds from accounts, Central Bank of Russia chief Elvira Nabiullina said during a review of the CBR's annual report at a plenary session of the State Duma.
"We are indeed seeing many questions recently about expanding access to bank secrets. In my view, we need to take a very careful approach here," Nabiullina said when asked about the possibility of giving prosecutors broader access to information about the accounts of companies and individuals.
She recalled that law enforcement agencies already have access to bank secrets in criminal cases and in cases where the regulator discovers violations in the course of oversight work.
"I think we need to approach [this] carefully so people and businesses don't have questions about trust in the banking system, who uses data on accounts. People are sensitive to this," Nabiullina said.
Against the backdrop of low deposit interest rates, this could trigger an additional outflow of funds from bank deposits, she said.
"We're prepared to discuss this matter further, but in our view bank secrecy cannot be turned into a sieve, otherwise we'll have people pulling out of bank deposits," Nabiullina said.
The Central Bank of Russia has a regulation for cooperation with law enforcement agencies as regards sharing data, she said, adding that it is possible to see what can be done within the context of this cooperation.