Monday, September 16 2019 17:41

ArmInfo. The Armenian  government will not reject the bill on amending the law on banking  secrecy and is not going to withdraw the document. Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at a press conference on  September 16.

According to the prime minister, there is no cause for concern. As  the prime minister pointed out, he repeatedly said that the fight  against corruption should be at the level of the Scandinavian  countries. In addition, the head of government does not imagine the  fight against corruption in half measures - it should be full,  because the public itself requires the return of illegally acquired  property. "We were asked, where is the money of Sashik (the brother  of the former president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Alexander Sargsyan  - ed. note) that you spoke about? Although there have been several  events lately, from which I conclude that Sashik is the most innocent  person in this family. And we need to investigate those cases, let's  not make a fuss. This law will be passed, and the looted money should  be returned to the budget to the last penny and serve the country's  security, "Pashinyan said.

As the head of government emphasized, after the adoption of the law,  bank secrecy will not become public - it will pass through several  filters and will be declassified only in very serious cases, by court  order.

On September 12, the Armenian government approved amendments and  additions to the laws on "Criminal Procedure" and "On Bank Secrecy",  which provide for the disclosure of banking information. Under  current law, investigators and prosecutors can receive bank account  information only with respect to suspects and accused. At the same  time, accounts of related parties are not subject to verification. As  stated by the First Deputy Minister of Justice Rafik Grigoryan, the  regulation of the current legislation impedes the investigation of  cases related to corruption risks, since corruption investigations  can often be related not only to these individuals, but also to  people who are related to them, and in some cases, evidence that is  necessary to attract person as an accused remains inaccessible to the  investigation due to bank secrecy. The proposed amendments intend to  remove restrictions, but at the same time provide for specific  mechanisms of guarantees and restrictions. In particular, a full list  of crimes will be established for which a petition for disclosing  bank secrets can be submitted, as well as the prosecutor's control  over the submission of the petition is ensured. In addition, the  court must present a reasoned decision on the application, assess  whether this is the only aspect and whether it is impossible to find  out in other ways, as well as the possibility of notifying the person  of the decision made and the possibility of challenging it.

As many experts said, the bill on the abolition of bank secrecy poses  many threats to the banking system and is fraught with an outflow of  capital from banking institutions of Armenia. The Central Bank of  Armenia, in response, explained that these changes in no way cancel  banking secrecy - they only clarify the list of data requested by  court order.  As the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia  told ArmInfo on September 13, both under the current law and after  the proposed changes come into force, data containing bank secrets  will be provided only by court order. "The institution of banking  secrecy has been and remains one of the pillars of financial  stability, and the planned regulation compared to the current one is  not considered a mitigation. The Central Bank is firm in maintaining  the institution of bank secrecy and ensuring financial stability in  the country," the CBA official statement underlines.