SECRECY OF BANK DEPOSITS AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF BANK TRANSACTIONS

(REPUBLIC ACT No. 1405 AN ACT PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF OR INQUIRY INTO, DEPOSITS WITH ANY
BANKING INSTITUTION AND PROVIDING PENALTY THEREFOR)

General Rule of Secrecy (R.A. No. 1405) – provides that “ALL DEPOSITS OF WHATEVER NATURE with
banks or banking institutions in the Philippines including investments in bonds issued by the
Government of the Philippines, its political subdivisions and its instrumentalities, are hereby considered
as of an ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENTIAL NATURE and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any
person, government official, bureau or office.”

EXCEPTION TO THE SECRECY RULES: (WIOS)

1. Upon written permission of the depositor;

2. In cases of impeachment;
3. Upon order of a competent court in cases of
a. Bribery
b. Dereliction of duty of public officials
4. In cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of the litigation
5. Upon order of the competent court or tribunal in cases involving unexplained wealth under the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. No. 3019)
6. Upon inquiry by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the purpose of determining the net
estate of a deceased depositor;
7. Report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) by banks of covered and suspicious
transactions;
8. Examination by the AMLC, upon the order of the Court of Appeals where there is probable cause
of money laundering;
9. Examination by the AMLC even without court order, in the three cases mentioned in Section 11
of Anti-Money Laundering Act;

PROHIBITED ACTS

1. Bank deposits may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official,
bureau or office;
2. Any official or employee of a banking institution may not disclose to any person other than
those mentioned in Section 2 any information concerning said deposits.

COVERED DEPOSITS – ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of whatever nature, including trust accounts are absolutely
confidential. The phrase “of whatever nature” proscribes any restrictive interpretation of “deposits”. It is
clear from the quoted provision that, generally, the law applies not only to money that is deposited but
also to those that are invested.

Basic Credit Data – refers to positive and negative information provided by a borrower to a submitting
entity in connection with the application for and availment of a credit facility and any information on the
borrower’s creditworthiness.
WAIVER

It is elementary rule that the existence of a waiver must be positively demonstrated since a waiver by
implication is not normally countenanced. The norm is that a waiver must not only be voluntary, but
must have been made knowingly, intelligently, and with sufficient awareness of the relevant
circumstances and likely consequences. There must be persuasive evidence to show an actual intention
to relinquish the right. Mere silence on the part of the holder of the right should not be construed as a
surrender thereof; the courts must indulge every reasonable presumption against the existence and
validity of such waiver.

WHEN DEPOSIT IS SUBJECT MATTER OF LITIGATION