He succeeded in the Court of Appeal with respect to both claims, the Court ordering a new trial and Tournier eventually won the case.
This case established 4 major exceptions. .
a) With the customer's consent. .
Traditionally, a bank would make a status enquiry about a customer's credit standing with another bank. The customer would usually have no knowledge of this enquiry. Today, the bank must seek the customer's permission to release such information. However, Tournier's case laid out that an implied consent is created to disclose information if the customer gives his bank as a reference.
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b) Under compulsion of law. .
There are various situations where a bank may be legally compelled to disclose information about a customer's affairs. One of these is compulsion by court order. This could be used to assist in the investigation of a criminal offence under:.
- Bankers Books Evidence Act 1879.
- Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
- Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986. .
The Police, however, must have a reasonable suspicion of crime and cannot use it to search for evidence.
Another situation where a bank must disclose information legally is upon receiving a valid request from an authorized official. This could be under the following acts:.
Taxes Management Act 1970 - Information required by the Inland Revenue. .
Companies Act 1985 - Company information required by DTI. .
Criminal Justice Act 1987 - Set up the Serious Fraud Office to investigate fraud. .
Financial Services Act 1986 - To investigate insider dealing.
Sometimes the bank is under no direct compulsion to disclose information, but statutory protection is given. This situation arises when a crime may be committed if the information is not disclosed. .
- Drug Trafficking Act 1994.
- Criminal Justice Act 1993. .
It is a criminal offence to assist a money launderer to obtain, hide, keep or invest funds if you know or suspect that the funds are a result of a crime.
