Letter of Cooperation of 3 June 2002

June 3, 2002

Mr. Jonathan Fiechter
Senior Deputy Comptroller
International and Economic affairs
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
250 E Street, SW,
Washington, D.C. 20219

Dear Mr. Fiechter,

With this letter, the Banking Supervision Division of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) express its willingness to cooperate with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on the basis of mutual trust and understanding in the supervision of banks, branches of foreign banks, bank groups, financial holdings and other financial institutions, operating in our respective jurisdiction. We seek to implement the guidance of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision as it concerns effective supervision of cross-border banking through comporehensive consolidated supervision¹⁾.

To the greatest extent possible, we intend for supervisory cooperation to include information sharing and contacts during the process of issuance, changing and revocation of the license of banks and branches of foreign banks, as well as in the supervision of the ongoing activities of the NBS and the OCC. We intend to share confidential bank supervisory information to the extent reasonable and subject to any relevant laws, rules and regulations. The Act No. 483/2001 Coll. On Banks and on amendments to certain laws (the Act) and applicable amendment of the Act, part two, Article 6, para 7 and 8 permits the NBS, in its exercise of supervisory functions, to enter into bilateral agreements with foreign supervisory agencies for the exchange of information on a  reciprocal basis contingent on commitment to keep bank secrecy. Within the meaning of the Act, Part twelve, Article 91 on banks secrecy is information about facts and circumstance concerning the assets and transactions on accounts and deposits of the bank’s  customers. We express our readiness to provide additional interpretation of the Act’s text, if requested. Upon changes in scope of the definition for bank secrecy and in the requirements for its implementation, protection and disclosure each of the two parties concur to inform the other. Please indicate in your letter response agreement that the exchange of information between the two supervisory authorities would be performed on a reciprocal basis and agreement to maintain confidentiality of any bank privacy information received. We ourselves agree to these commitments.

We also intend to respond to requests for information on any aspect of our national regulatory system. In order to enhance cooperation between supervisors, we offer to meet, as appropriate.

We look forward to your concurrence with these general principles to cross-border supervision and mutual cooperation between supervisory offices as home and host supervisory authorities.

Sincerely,

Milan Horvath
Chief Executive Director
Banking Supervision Division
National Bank of Slovakia

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1) See the 1975 Basle Concordat, as supplemented by the 1983 Concordat that includes “Principles for the Supervision of Banks Foreign Establishments”, the April 1990 paper on “Information Flows Between Banking Supervisory Authorities”, and subsequent guidance.