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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Banks move to rebuild confidence</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>guilty employees they'll be punished</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>INGRID BROWN, Observer staff reporter
Thursday, October 12, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA) yesterday moved to rebuild confidence in the banking sector, warning employees that they would face disciplinary action for breaching customers' confidentiality rights.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The bankers also promised further measures to establish procedures that would foster compliance with provisions of the Banking Act, in a statement that made no mention of, but was obviously related to, the Trafigura affair triggered by information leaked from FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB).<P class=StoryText align=justify>"The JBA wishes to assure the members of the public that the confidentiality of customer information is one of the core principles by which we operate and is an obligation which we will continue to uphold," the association said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Bankers Association, which is headed by ScotiaBank's Bill Clarke, along with the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) and the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), yesterday joined other organisations raising concerns about the ruling People's National Party's (PNP's) acceptance of $31 million from Trafigura Beheer, the international oil trading company that lifts and sells Nigerian crude on the international market for Jamaica.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Information about Trafigura's hefty deposit into an account named CCOC, used by the PNP for campaign purposes, was leaked from FCIB to Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Severely embarrassed by the furore that followed the disclosure, PNP general-secretary and information and development minister Colin Campbell stepped down Monday, and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller ordered the money sent back to Trafigura.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday, the JBA emphasised that "the Banking Act imposes on every bank employee a duty of confidentiality in relation to any information regarding the money or other relevant particulars of the accounts of customers". It pointed to the limited exceptions as outlined in the Banking Act where such disclosures can be made.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Disclosures are allowed when customers give written consents; when it is ordered by the court; through a directive given by the Ministry of Finance and Planning, as well as a requirement through other Acts such as the Money Laundering or Terrorism Prevention Acts. In this case, the disclosure is made to the designated authority.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The JBA insisted that its employees must observe and comply with the provisions of the Banking Act dealing with the confidentiality of customer information at all times.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the wake of the leak, FirstCaribbean sent a senior executive, Sonia Christie, on leave while it investigated the incident that was used by Golding to embarrass the Government.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday, Observer sources said FCIB has been pursuing other angles besides Christie, as it dug frantically to plug the leak, apparently the first in its 86 years of operations in Jamaica.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The source said the bank was on the verge of apologising to Christie, who was not directly accused, but who has been embarrassed by the publicity surrounding her being sent on leave.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Christie is the wife of Falmouth deputy mayor Fitz Christie and a relative of the Jamaica Labour Party's Pearnel Charles.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For its part, the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) yesterday called for the establishment of policy guidelines for campaign financing and offered assistance in develop
<SPAN class=Subheadline>guilty employees they'll be punished</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>INGRID BROWN, Observer staff reporter
Thursday, October 12, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA) yesterday moved to rebuild confidence in the banking sector, warning employees that they would face disciplinary action for breaching customers' confidentiality rights.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The bankers also promised further measures to establish procedures that would foster compliance with provisions of the Banking Act, in a statement that made no mention of, but was obviously related to, the Trafigura affair triggered by information leaked from FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB).<P class=StoryText align=justify>"The JBA wishes to assure the members of the public that the confidentiality of customer information is one of the core principles by which we operate and is an obligation which we will continue to uphold," the association said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Bankers Association, which is headed by ScotiaBank's Bill Clarke, along with the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) and the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), yesterday joined other organisations raising concerns about the ruling People's National Party's (PNP's) acceptance of $31 million from Trafigura Beheer, the international oil trading company that lifts and sells Nigerian crude on the international market for Jamaica.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Information about Trafigura's hefty deposit into an account named CCOC, used by the PNP for campaign purposes, was leaked from FCIB to Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Severely embarrassed by the furore that followed the disclosure, PNP general-secretary and information and development minister Colin Campbell stepped down Monday, and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller ordered the money sent back to Trafigura.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday, the JBA emphasised that "the Banking Act imposes on every bank employee a duty of confidentiality in relation to any information regarding the money or other relevant particulars of the accounts of customers". It pointed to the limited exceptions as outlined in the Banking Act where such disclosures can be made.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Disclosures are allowed when customers give written consents; when it is ordered by the court; through a directive given by the Ministry of Finance and Planning, as well as a requirement through other Acts such as the Money Laundering or Terrorism Prevention Acts. In this case, the disclosure is made to the designated authority.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The JBA insisted that its employees must observe and comply with the provisions of the Banking Act dealing with the confidentiality of customer information at all times.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the wake of the leak, FirstCaribbean sent a senior executive, Sonia Christie, on leave while it investigated the incident that was used by Golding to embarrass the Government.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday, Observer sources said FCIB has been pursuing other angles besides Christie, as it dug frantically to plug the leak, apparently the first in its 86 years of operations in Jamaica.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The source said the bank was on the verge of apologising to Christie, who was not directly accused, but who has been embarrassed by the publicity surrounding her being sent on leave.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Christie is the wife of Falmouth deputy mayor Fitz Christie and a relative of the Jamaica Labour Party's Pearnel Charles.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For its part, the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) yesterday called for the establishment of policy guidelines for campaign financing and offered assistance in develop