Facing the proposal of the authorities to abolish the banking secrecy in the country, businessmen of the industrial sector are opposed, because they argue that there are already legal procedures in the country to do it through a judge.

At a press conference on February 11, Finance Minister Rodrigo Chaves defended the proposal to access sensitive information from taxpayers and said that by lifting banking secrecy they were seeking to tackle tax evasion.

Regarding these proposals, the businessmen agree that it is not convenient, since the aim is to have access to information without control.

Enrique Egloff, president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Industries (ICRC), told Elobservador.cr that “… It would mean that you can have access to information for management without limitations and without conditions, simply by seeking income, instead of dealing with the underlying problems.”

Egloff added that “… Nothing helps to generate confidence for investment, if the launching of initiatives or proposals to eliminate bank secrecy, especially if there are already mechanisms in Costa Rica to obtain information and access to people’s accounts through a judge in those cases necessary to attack, on the one hand, tax evasion and on the other hand, money laundering problems.”

Source: elobservadorcr.com