Section 36
Section 36
Except as provided in sections 33 and 34, nothing in this Act shall authorize the Minister to direct the Central Bank, or shall authorize the Central Bank to enquire specifically into the affairs of any individual customer of any licensed bank and any incidental information relating to the affairs of the individual customer obtained by the Central Bank in the course of an inspection or investigation made by the Central Bank under the provisions of this Act shall be secret between the Central Bank and that bank:
Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit any powers conferred upon the High Court or a Judge thereof by the Bankers' Books (Evidence) Act, 1949 or to prohibit obedience to an order made under that Act.
(2)
Except with the consent of the Central Bank in writing and to the extent specified therein, no officer of any licensed bank and no person who by reason of his capacity or office has by any means access to the records of that bank registers or any correspondence or material with regard to the account of any individual customer of that bank shall give, divulge or reveal any information whatsoever regarding the moneys or other relevant particulars of the account of the customer unless—
(a)
the customer or his personal representatives gives or give his or their permission so to do;
(b)
the customer is declared bankrupt; or
(c)
the information is required to assess the creditworthiness of the customer in connection with such credit bureau as may be established with the approval of the Central Bank or relating to a bona fide commercial transaction or a prospective commercial transaction.
(3)
The provisions of subsection (2) shall not apply to the giving of information to auditors appointed under section 19, officers and employees of the bank who are resident in the Federation.
(4)
Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.