The head of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Serhiy Marchenko, believes it is necessary to disclose banking secrecy to the State Tax Service. The National Bank of Ukraine denied such a possibility.
Points of attention
- The debate revolves around the balance between preventing financial crimes and protecting fundamental rights, with concerns about the potential misuse of expanded access to banking information.
- The National Bank highlights the significance of banking secrecy in line with European values, emphasizing the need for evidence-based access by regulatory authorities.
- The potential abolition of banking secrecy for tax officials as part of European integration raises questions about citizens' trust in state institutions and the implications of such changes.
NBU responded to Marchenko's statement
The regulator emphasized that it would not allow any body to provide uncontrolled and unlimited extrajudicial access to banking secrecy.
By court decision, law enforcement and tax authorities may obtain access to information containing banking secrecy, but to do so they must provide evidence of the validity, appropriateness, and existence of grounds for obtaining such information, which is an important safeguard for restricting access by regulatory authorities to private information about an individual.
The NBU press service draws attention to the fact that the unjustified expansion of access to banking information jeopardizes the fundamental rights of citizens and contradicts European values.
As noted by the National Bank, the importance of the institution of banking secrecy is no less important than the principle of the presumption of innocence defined in the Constitution.
What specifically did Marchenko propose?
According to the head of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Serhiy Marchenko, the State Tax Service should gain access to citizens' financial data, which today constitute banking secrecy.
And we shouldn't be afraid to reveal banking secrecy, which we think protects us from something. Banking secrecy protects thieves and criminals.
Serhiy Marchenko
Head of the US Treasury Department
The minister also predicted that banking secrecy for tax officials will be abolished as part of European integration.
According to him, an obstacle on this path may be Ukrainians' distrust of state institutions.
Interestingly, Serhiy Marchenko himself does not know how the information will be used.
