Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 84 U.K. Confidentiality

1. The requirements of professional secrecy shall be binding in respect of the following persons:

(a) resolution authorities;

(b) competent authorities and EBA;

(c) competent ministries;

(d) special managers or temporary administrators appointed under this Directive;

(e) potential acquirers that are contacted by the competent authorities or solicited by the resolution authorities, irrespective of whether that contact or solicitation was made as preparation for the use of the sale of business tool, and irrespective of whether the solicitation resulted in an acquisition;

(f) auditors, accountants, legal and professional advisors, valuers and other experts directly or indirectly engaged by the resolution authorities, competent authorities, competent ministries or by the potential acquirers referred to in point (e);

(g) bodies which administer deposit guarantee schemes;

(h) bodies which administer investor compensation schemes;

(i) the body in charge of the resolution financing arrangements;

(j) central banks and other authorities involved in the resolution process;

(k) a bridge institution or an asset management vehicle;

(l) any other persons who provide or have provided services directly or indirectly, permanently or occasionally, to persons referred to in points (a) to (k);

(m) senior management, members of the management body, and employees of the bodies or entities referred to in points (a) to (k) before, during and after their appointment.

2. With a view to ensuring that the confidentiality requirements laid down in paragraphs 1 and 3 are complied with, the persons in points (a), (b), (c), (g), (h), (j) and (k) of paragraph 1 shall ensure that there are internal rules in place, including rules to secure secrecy of information between persons directly involved in the resolution process.

3. Without prejudice to the generality of the requirements under paragraph 1, the persons referred to in that paragraph shall be prohibited from disclosing confidential information received during the course of their professional activities or from a competent authority or resolution authority in connection with its functions under this Directive, to any person or authority unless it is in the exercise of their functions under this Directive or in summary or collective form such that individual institutions or entities referred to in point (b), (c) or (d) of Article 1(1) cannot be identified or with the express and prior consent of the authority or the institution or the entity referred to in point (b), (c) or (d) of Article 1(1) which provided the information.

Member States shall ensure that no confidential information is disclosed by the persons referred to in paragraph 1 and that the possible effects of disclosing information on the public interest as regards financial, monetary or economic policy, on the commercial interests of natural and legal persons, on the purpose of inspections, on investigations and on audits, are assessed.

The procedure for checking the effects of disclosing information shall include a specific assessment of the effects of any disclosure of the contents and details of recovery and resolution plan as referred to in Articles 5, 7, 10, 11 and 12 and the result of any assessment carried out under Articles 6, 8 and 15.

Any person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to civil liability in the event of an infringement of this Article, in accordance with national law.

4. This Article shall not prevent:

(a) employees and experts of the bodies or entities referred to in points (a) to (j) of paragraph 1 from sharing information among themselves within each body or entity; or

(b) resolution authorities and competent authorities, including their employees and experts, from sharing information with each other and with other Union resolution authorities, other Union competent authorities, competent ministries, central banks, deposit guarantee schemes, investor compensation schemes, authorities responsible for normal insolvency proceedings, authorities responsible for maintaining the stability of the financial system in Member States through the use of macroprudential rules, persons charged with carrying out statutory audits of accounts, EBA, or, subject to Article 98, third-country authorities that carry out equivalent functions to resolution authorities, or, subject to strict confidentiality requirements, to a potential acquirer for the purposes of planning or carrying out a resolution action.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, Member States may authorise the exchange of information with any of the following:

(a) subject to strict confidentiality requirements, any other person where necessary for the purposes of planning or carrying out a resolution action;

(b) parliamentary enquiry committees in their Member State, courts of auditors in their Member State and other entities in charge of enquiries in their Member State, under appropriate conditions; and

(c) national authorities responsible for overseeing payment systems, the authorities responsible for normal insolvency proceedings, the authorities entrusted with the public duty of supervising other financial sector entities, the authorities responsible for the supervision of financial markets and insurance undertakings and inspectors acting on their behalf, the authorities of Member States responsible for maintaining the stability of the financial system in Member States through the use of macroprudential rules, the authorities responsible for protecting the stability of the financial system, and persons charged carrying out statutory audits;

6. This Article shall be without prejudice to national law concerning the disclosure of information for the purpose of legal proceedings in criminal or civil cases.

7. EBA shall, by 3 July 2015, issue guidelines in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 to specify how information should be provided in summary or collective form for the purposes of paragraph 3.