In the conditions of the formation of the information society doctrine, the study of the applicability of such an institution as bank secrecy becomes an urgent topic for research. However, the interpretation of this category of banking, like many others, today differs from the traditional one.
The first significant attack on the institution of banking secrecy began with a campaign organized by Washington to combat the so-called "international terrorism". The second event (financial crisis) exposed such a financial problem as tax evasion of individuals and legal entities. An even more powerful tool to erode bank secrecy followed - the US Foreign Investment Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Since 2012, similar work has begun in the OECD countries to develop standards for the automatic exchange of financial information for tax purposes (Common Reporting Standard, CRS). In practice, this agreement means the end of the era of bank secrecy, which lasted more than 300 years.
The Russian Federation has joined these international programs. Following the results of 2018, the organizations of the financial market of the Russian Federation should send their first reports under this system in 2019.
From the point of view of tradition, the considered legal acts obviously invade the private sphere of relations between the bank and the client, regulated by the agreement on opening a bank account and bank deposit, in the interests of the fiscal authorities. If the scope of state support is constantly diminishing, then civil society itself must become an apologist for banking secrecy, otherwise, it will lose one of the pillars of autonomous law.
In the paper concern critical problems, which constitute global challenges to the definition and preservation of the institution of bank secrecy. The research methods applied in the paper are based on the study of the literature on the subject.