Duty of confidentiality

(1) Persons employed at the resolution authority, at the supervisory authority, at the Federal Ministry of Finance, and at other national authorities, may not, without authorisation, disclose or use information within the meaning of section 4(1) that has come to their knowledge in the course of their activity under this Act. This applies also where the staff of the aforementioned authorities are no longer in service, or have ceased their activity under this Act. The same applies to other persons who obtain knowledge of the information referred to in the first sentence by way of official reporting.
(2) Subsection (1) applies correspondingly to the following persons, or to persons employed at the following bodies:
1. deposit guarantee schemes; 1a. voluntary protection schemes of institutions;
2. potential acquirers who have been contacted by other national authorities acting under this Act, or approached by the resolution authorities;
3. auditors, chartered accountants, certified public accountants, legal advisers, other professional advisers, valuers, and other experts engaged directly or indirectly by the resolution authorities, by other authorities acting under this Act, or by potential acquirers;
4. temporary administrators under section 38 and the special administrator under section 87;
5. members of the management body and of the supervisory or administrative organ of a bridge institution or an asset management vehicle appointed by the resolution authority, before, during or after their appointment;
6. other persons or bodies that, directly or indirectly, permanently or temporarily, provide or have provided services to the resolution authority, to the nationally competent authorities acting under this Act, and to the persons, bodies or authorities referred to in points 1 to 5;
7. staff members at the level below senior management and members of the management body and of the supervisory or administrative organ of the persons, bodies or authorities referred to in points 1 to 6, before, during or after their appointment, and current or former employees of the persons, bodies or authorities referred to in points 1 to 6.
(3) The resolution authority, the supervisory authority, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and other national authorities acting under this Act, deposit guarantee schemes, voluntary protection schemes of institutions, and bridge institutions and asset management vehicles, must, in their respective areas, provide for internal confidentiality rules that correspond largely to the rules of sections 4 to 10. In particular, it must be ensured that information within the meaning of section 4(1) reaches only persons who are directly involved in the resolution process.
(4) The duty of confidentiality does not preclude the passing on or use of information within the meaning of section 4(1), point 1, where the credit institutions, group entities, or other third parties whose interests are affected by the passing on or use have expressly consented to the passing on or use, and the information is not required to be kept confidential in the interest of the competent authorities.
(5) In the event of a breach of the duty of confidentiality, the general rules on liability and damages apply. As regards claims against an employee of the resolution authority, the supervisory authority, or a nationally competent authority acting under this Act, the provisions of section 181 apply.