Delegates raised the issue of bank customer information security.

At the plenary discussion session in the hall on the draft Law on Credit Institutions (amended) on the afternoon of June 10, delegate Truong Trong Nghia (HCMC delegation) stated that currently, according to international practice, there are a number of professions where customer information confidentiality is strictly protected by the constitution and by law, including banking, medicine, and lawyers.

“Banking secrets, like other secrets, belong to private life, family secrets, and personal secrets. Protecting private life, personal and family secrets is a human right recognized in international conventions and Vietnam is a member,” said Mr. Nghia.

According to Mr. Nghia, Clause 3, Article 14 of the draft Law stipulates that credit institutions and foreign bank branches are not allowed to provide customer information of credit institutions and foreign bank branches except in cases where there is a request from a competent State agency as prescribed by law and with the consent of the customer.

Meanwhile, Article 21 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates that everyone has the right to inviolability of private life, personal secrets, and family secrets. Information on private life and family secrets is guaranteed by law, and Article 14 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates that human rights and civil rights can only be restricted according to the provisions of the Law in cases where it is necessary for national defense, security, and social order and safety.

Finance - Banking - Delegates raise the issue of bank customer information security — Delegate Truong Trong Nghia (Photo: Quochoi.vn).

Delegates believe that the current provisions in Article 14 of the draft law restrict people's right to information protection because the provisions on providing information according to Government regulations or the law are incomplete.

Mr. Nghia proposed that the draft Law amending Article 14 only provides customer information according to the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions and related laws, not according to the law.

Decree 117 on information security stipulates in detail that customer information can only be provided according to specific provisions of the Act, the Law, and the National Assembly Resolution. He proposed to include this provision in Article 14 of the Law on Credit Institutions.

The second point suggested by the delegate is that information should only be requested from customers related to the case being investigated and the requested content is also necessary for the investigation.

"It's impossible to suddenly receive an official dispatch saying to provide customer information," Mr. Nghia raised the issue.

Decree 117 expands the subjects required to provide information to members of government inspection teams, audit team members, district-level investigation agencies, and customs.

"According to my calculations, there are up to ten thousand people who have the right to request customer information. Therefore, we propose to redesign as proposed and if it is included, we will include the requested subjects in the Law," he said.

In addition, Mr. Nghia said that for those subjects, only the head and deputy head can sign the request document and it cannot be extended to the members of the delegation.

Finance - Banking - Delegates raised the issue of bank customer information security (Image 2). — Delegate Vu Thi Lien Huong (Photo: Quochoi.vn).

Agreeing with delegate Truong Trong Nghia, delegate Vu Thi Lien Huong (Quang Ngai delegation) proposed to add cases where customer information is provided or implemented according to legal regulations to Article 14, Clause 3.

“For example, in the case of a customer dying or losing civil capacity, an heir coming to request information or the law requiring the bank to make periodic reports. Thus, it is recommended that the draft Law clearly stipulates the cases in which customer information can be provided,” the female delegate suggested.

Commenting earlier, delegate Pham Van Thinh (Bac Giang delegation) proposed adding section 8 regulating the customer information system to Chapter IV of the operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches, with the spirit of ensuring the customer information system is kept confidential but stipulating the standard information structure associated with the citizen identification number and tax code of the organization or individual.

According to Mr. Thinh, this is to ensure that when necessary, the authorities will be able to look up all accounts of an organization or citizen as well as obtain data on the arising payment accounts of all organizations and individuals in the economy.

This section also needs to strictly regulate the responsibilities of credit institutions, organizations, and individuals opening accounts to ensure the legitimacy of the accounts, because if they are not legitimate, it will be an important factor leading to the motivation for illegal acts of organizations and individuals .

Source