Bank secrecy — breach — requests from the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and the Public Prosecutor’s Office

Abstract

The opinion examines the legality of requests for information protected by banking secrecy made by the Federal Revenue and the Public Prosecutor's Office, analyzing the dilemma of financial institutions between the crime of disobedience and that of breach of secrecy. It argues that banking secrecy is an extension of the privacy ensured by the Constitution, and that an extensive interpretation violating citizenship prerogatives is inadmissible. It analyzes art. 38 of Law 4,595/64, received as a complementary law, concluding that only the Judiciary and Parliamentary Inquiry Committees may order the breach of secrecy, with the Federal Revenue and the Public Prosecutor's Office depending on a reasoned judicial order. It examines the preventive measures available, such as habeas corpus and writ of mandamus.