The Clearing Banks Association (CBA) has come out in support of Bank of The Bahamas (BOB), suggesting that the recent release of its clients' "confidential customer information" may be a breach of the law.
The CBA, in a statement issued yesterday, said that it notes with concern recent articles in the press purporting to "disclose a member of the association's confidential customer information".
"The unauthorized release of client information may represent a breach of the laws of The Bahamas," said the CBA, which represents all domestic banks.
"In order to protect the integrity of the banking industry, a key pillar of the Bahamian economy, it is the policy of each member of the Clearing Banks Association to pursue the instigators of such breaches of customer confidentiality to the fullest extent of the law," the CBA added.
While not mentioning Bank of The Bahamas by name, the statement comes at a time when BOB has indicated that it is concerned about the potential leak of confidential client information via a local tabloid.
BOB itself called in the police to investigate the matter, and promised to sue, after reports began appearing in the tabloid purporting to describe the status of a number of loans held with the bank. BOB said that the information represented was also inaccurate.
Law firm Graham Thompson has also hit out at the tabloid publication.
"The story... that Graham Thompson receives one million dollars a year in legal fees from Bank of The Bahamas is completely untrue. Our firm makes nowhere near that from the bank and never has.
"The claim is preposterous," it said in a recent statement.
"It is equally untrue to insinuate... that our firm's relationship with the bank is due to the relationship between the bank's Managing Director Paul McWeeney and one of our partners, Sean McWeeney QC," the law firm added.

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