Bank employees and persons holding positions of trust in banks receive, as part of their tasks (such as lending and asset management services), information about the financial matters and other matters of their customers and other persons. Banks also receive information about their customers in connection with payment transactions, for example.
Banks can only operate successfully if their customers can trust that their private financial and personal information is kept confidential. Bank employees may not disclose information about the customer’s business to third parties. Bank secrecy protects private individuals as well as companies and other organisations. Bank secrecy has been observed for as long as banking has existed.
These guidelines have been written by Finance Finland and Finnish banks. They supersede the previous guidelines published by the Federation of Finnish Financial Services. Legislative changes have been observed until 15 December 2020.