Combination of Private and Public Interests at the Stages of Historical Development of the Institute of Bank Secrecy

The author has tried to reveal the content of the legal institution of banking secrecy by conducting a comparative analysis of the laws of Hammurabi, the legal provisions of Judaism of the Talmudic period, the Digests of Justinian, modern legislation and judicial practice of some countries. The article collects and compares the first standards that determine the need to protect the financial side of citizens’ lives. The article examines the relationship of usury to the formation of the need for bank secrecy, and provides historical facts that determined the legislative consolidation of the institution of bank secrecy in Switzerland in the period from the XVI to the XX century. The facts indicating the changes in the general attitude of citizens towards the institution of banking secrecy in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century and in our time are presented and compared. A comparison is made with the current state of the institute, and by referring to the works of legal scholars and sociologists, an assumption is made about the causes of real conflicts in the legislation regulating the protection of bank secrecy. It points to the activities of international non-governmental organizations, which also shape the current course of development of many sectors of the economy and orient the vectors of development of positive law. The paper shows the dynamic aspect of legal science using individual examples related to the institution of bank secrecy.