Pashinyan: When the authorities claim for $ 50 million as  restoration, the offender bargains it to $ 500 thousand, but when it  comes to detention, he agrees to $ 100 million 

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.