A Study Of The Commercial Banks Civil Liability For Infringement Upon Personal Financial Information

Personal financial information is an important basis for the accumulation of data of commercial banks in their daily work, which includes customer property information, account information, credit information and transaction information. Different from the personal information in general, personal financial information represents not only the rights and interests of personality but of extensive property, double harms of which would be inflicted upon the information owner in the event of unlawful infringement upon personal financial information. That is the underlying reason why personal financial statement is different from the personal information. Commercial banks are an important personal collectors, custodians and users of financial information. How to collect, use, preserve and provide personal financial information for customers bears not only on the way to conduct business of banking financial institutions, but on the protection of rights and interests of customers’ financial information protection. Recent years have witnessed frequent coverage of personal financial information infringement in commercial banks, which not only encroach upon the legitimate rights and interests of customers, but also increase the litigation risks of commercial banks, thus causing higher operating costs. Therefore, it is necessary to study the nature the rights of personal financial information and the nature of responsibility of commercial banks for infringing personal financial information. What’s more, it is highly essential for commercial banks to assume responsibility and raise awareness to protect personal financial information, as well as strengthen and standardize rule and regulations to collect, use, preserve and provide personal financial information so that the misconduct of infringing upon customers’ personal financial information could be avoided.The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the basic concept, scope and type of personal financial information with further elaboration on how significant the personal financial information is in modern society on the part of information owner and commercial banks. In addition, the thesis expounds on the typical forms of infringing upon personal financial information by commercial banks and analyzes the legal basis for commercial banks to protect customers’personal financial information so that great stress is put on the importance of personal financial information protection.The second part clarifies sources, types and specific contents of obligation that commercial banks hold to protect personal financial information. It also narrates the constituent elements of civil liability that commercial banks have for violating due obligations and infringing upon personal financial information with great emphasis put on discussing constituent elements of tort liability identification suck as identification of subjective fault, causal links between misconducts and the results incurred as well as the defining of damages.The third part analyzes the legal nature in and the corresponding legal responsibility the commercial banks shall bear for infringing upon customers’personal financial information. The choice of rights is discussed with the concurrence of breach of contract liability and tort liability into the bargain. On top of that, the thesis further elucidates how commercial banks assume responsibility when infringement occurs by commercial banks employees and whether commercial banks should bear responsibility in the event of the Third Party infringing upon customers’personal financial information and liability standards once it occurs.