ArmInfo. Without the planned changes in the banking system, the new government of Armenia will not be able to build a sovereign, democratic, legal and social state. This was stated by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of New York, regarding the bill on amendments to the law "On Bank Secrecy".
According to him, he posed a very specific task to those responsible for the field - the standards of the Scandinavian countries should operate in Armenia. In these countries, economies do not collapse, they are considered prosperous and with a stable banking system, he said. "While in our country some people have set laws for themselves so that they could steal and then hide the loot, hiding behind these laws. We can't continue to tolerate a similar situation," he said.
The Prime Minister urged not to be afraid of the alleged loss of stability in the banking system. "It is stable and will continue to be so, and we are implementing a system that operates in Sweden, Norway and Finland," Nikol Pashinyan said.
Moreover, as the head of the Armenian government pointed out, the new government does not seek to fill the prisons with thieves, but only establish the rule of law in the country. For example, according to him, if specific facts were revealed, the authorities suggested that the offender restore the damage done to the state, as a result of which, according to the legislation of Armenia, the case could be terminated. But, as Pashinyan noted, when the authorities, for example, presented an amount of $ 50 million for restoration, the persons involved in the cases first bargained , reducing it to $ 500 thousand, but then, when it came to detention and arrest, they agreed to $ 100 million.
To recall, 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 hinders the investigation of cases related to corruption risks, since often the investigation of corruption transactions can be associated not only with these individuals, but also with people connected with them. And in some cases, the evidence that is necessary to attract a person as an accused is not available to the investigation due to bank secrecy. The proposed amendments are intended to remove restrictions, but at the same time provide for specific mechanisms of guarantees and restrictions.
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. But 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 have entered into force, data containing bank secrecy 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.
