HOLDING TENACIOUSLY TO THE BANK’S DUTY OF SECRECY.

HOLDING TENACIOUSLY TO THE BANK’S DUTY OF SECRECY.

The relationship between a bank and its customer goes beyond that of creditor/debtor relationship. It is basically a contract agreement between the bank and its customer. This contractual relationship start from the date the bank accepts instructions from the customers. The most common starting point is when the customer instructs the bank to open an account.

In this contractual relationship the bank and the customers have a number of duties and obligations. These duties and obligations were identified in Joachimson v Swiss Bank Corporation (1921). It is pertinent to note that later cases have added further important duties and obligations. We are going to dwell on the bank's duty of secrecy.

Banking has a tradition of maintaining secrecy about the affairs of their customers. All bank staff are required to sign an undertaking that they will not reveal any information about customers to unauthorized people. The bank must ensu...