Area: Finance
Competent authority: MF
EZU URL: .nan
Initiative ID: 118
Initiative accepted and completed: '2013-05-20'
Initiative classified in EZU: .nan
Initiative forwarded in response: '2013-05-10'
Initiative published: '2013-05-10'
Initiative submitted: '2013-04-29'
Response from the competent authority: Dear Sir or Madam. We have received a petition
  concerning the removal of administrative barriers to the free public inspection
  of all banking transactions of companies and legal entities to prove assets and
  the introduction of transparent electronic commerce for all business transactions,
  with a description of the purpose of use, in relation to which we are sending you
  the following position.The provision of payment services in the Republic of Slovenia
  is regulated on a systemic basis by the Act on Payment Services and Systems (Official
  Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No 58/09, 34/10, 9/11 and 32/12, hereinafter
  referred to as "ZPlaSS"). Payment service providers who may provide payment services
  pursuant to Article 17 of ZPlaSS shall conclude a payment service agreement with
  users, which may be concluded as a framework agreement or as an agreement for the
  execution of a single payment transaction. However, the provisions of the law governing
  contractual relations in relation to the contract of purchase shall apply to issues
  concerning the relationship between the payment service provider and the user which
  are not regulated in the ZPlaSS.Article 180 of the ZPlaSS also regulates the protection
  of confidential information. In this respect, it provides that the payment service
  provider (bank) shall keep confidential all information, facts and circumstances
  about the individual user in its possession. It also provides that members of the
  payment service provider's bodies, shareholders, employees or other persons who,
  in connection with their work for the payment service provider, have access to confidential
  information in any way may not communicate that information to third parties, nor
  use it themselves or allow it to be used by third parties. It furthermore explicitly
  provides for cases in which the obligation to protect confidential information does
  not apply. However, also for these cases, the ZPlaSS provides that the Bank of Slovenia
  or other authorities and persons may use the data obtained in this way exclusively
  for the purpose for which the data were obtained. In the event that a payment service
  provider breaches the duty to protect confidential data under Article 180 of the
  ZPlaSS, it is subject to a fine of between EUR 2,500 and EUR 80,000.Based on the
  above, it is evident that banking transactions of legal persons are not and cannot
  be public data. Moreover, we are of the opinion that the possible free public access
  to all bank transactions of legal persons would increase the administrative burden
  for payment service providers, which would be passed on to service users, without
  any positive effects of the proposed measure. In our view, the measure would even
  have the opposite, negative effect, as companies would divert their payment traffic
  to offshore accounts, which cannot be prevented under the EU acquis.With regard
  to the initiative to introduce transparent electronic commerce, we note that companies
  overwhelmingly provide payment services through payment service providers in an
  electronic manner and using a description of the purpose of the payment.Accordingly,
  the Ministry of Finance is opposed to the proposed initiative.
Text file: 118.txt
Title: Free public access to all banking transactions of companies and legal entities
URL: https://www.stopbirokraciji.gov.si/pobuda/?st=118
