Financial Secrecy
Definition: This term refers to the confidentiality afforded to financial transactions either by enactment of law or by other means. There are many forms of financial secrecy. Financial secrecy can be a part of an agreement between the institution and the client. Law can impose it with either criminal or civil sanctions. Financial secrecy can be operationally given by the financial institution whereby the institutional practices call for only top management to know who owns the account or no bank official knows who owns the account, such as a numbered account. It can also be obtained by the imposition of an attorney, nominee, or entity between the bank and its client.