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CODE OF BANKING PRACTICE - February 12, 2001

Preambles Objectives, Principles, Review and Staff Training
Part A Disclosures.
Part B Principles of Conduct.
Part C Resolution of Disputes.
PART B: PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCT

7.0 PRE-CONTRACTUAL CONDUCT

7.1 A Bank shall have readily available any Terms and Conditions of each Banking Service it currently offers to Customers or prospective Customers.

7.2 A Bank shall disclose the existence of any application fee or charge and whether the fee or charge is refundable if the application is rejected or not pursued.

7.3 Where a fee or charge is levied by a Bank for the provision of a bank cheque, a travellers cheque, an inter-bank transfer or the like service the Bank shall disclose the fee or charge to a Customer upon request when the service is provided or at any other time.

8.0 VARIATION TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

8.1 A Bank shall notify affected Customers of the introduction or variation of a fee or charge payable directly or indirectly by its Customers.

8.2 Unless otherwise agreed, a Bank may give any written notice to a Customer at his or her mailing address that was last recorded with the Bank. A Bank may require a Customer to notify the Bank promptly of a change to his or her name or address.

8.3 If a Bank considers there are sufficient changes to warrant doing so, the Bank will make available a consolidation of the Terms and Conditions applying to a Banking Service.

9.0 ACCOUNT COMBINATION

9.1 A Bank shall inform a Customer promptly after exercising the Bank's right to combine Accounts affecting the Customer.

10.0 FOREIGN EXCHANGE SERVICES

10.1 In providing a foreign exchange service, other than by credit or debit card or travellers cheque, a Bank shall provide to a Customer:

i details of the exchange rate and commission charges that will apply or, if these are not known at the time, details of the basis on which the transaction will be completed; and
ii an indication of when money sent overseas on the Customer's instructions would normally arrive at the overseas destination.
11.0 PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

11.1 A Bank acknowledges that it has a general duty of confidentiality towards a Customer except in the following circumstances:

i where disclosure is compelled by law;
ii where there is a duty to the public to disclose;
iii where the interests of the Bank require disclosure; or
iv where disclosure is made with the express or implied consent of the Customer.

11.2 A Bank shall not collect information relating to Customers by unlawful means.

11.3 A Bank shall on request provide a Customer with information about that Customer which is readily accessible to the Bank and which may lawfully be provided. The information required to be provided is limited to the Bank's record of the Customer's address, occupation, marital status, age, sex, Accounts with the Bank and balances and statements relating to those Accounts (in this section 11 called "Customer information").

11.4 A Bank need not comply with a request under section 11.3 unless the Customer has, as clearly as possible, identified the Customer information requested and its likely location (if known to the Customer).

11.5 A Bank may recover its reasonable costs of supplying Customer information to a Customer.

11.6 A Customer of a Bank may request the correction of Customer information about the Customer held by the Bank.

11.7 A request for access to Customer information, or a request for the correction of Customer information, shall be dealt within a reasonable time.

11.8 A Bank may not collect, use or disseminate information about a Customer's:

i political, social or religious beliefs or affiliations;
ii race, ethnic origins or national origins; or
iii sexual preferences or practices;

except that it may collect or use such information in accordance with this Code for a proper commercial purpose.

11.9 A Bank shall take reasonable steps to protect personal information held by it relating to a Customer against loss and against access, use, modification or disclosure that is unauthorised. A Bank shall require all staff with access to personal information concerning Customers to maintain confidentiality concerning that information.

11.10 In this section 11 "Customer" includes an individual who would have been a Customer if this Code had applied at the time that individual acquired a financial service.

12.0 PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS

12.1 A Bank may inform a Customer of the advisability of safeguarding payment instruments such as credit and debit cards, cheques and passbooks.

12.2 A Bank may require a Customer to notify the Bank as soon as possible of the loss, theft or misuse of his or her payment instruments.

12.3 A Bank shall inform a Customer of:

i the consequences arising from a failure by the Customer to comply with any requirement referred to in section 12.2 that is imposed on the Customer by the Bank; and
ii the means by which the Customer can notify the loss, theft or misuse of his or her payment instruments.
13.0 PROVISION OF CREDIT

13.1 In considering whether to provide a Banking Service involving the provision of credit to a Customer, a Bank shall take into account the range of factors it considers are relevant to the Customer and the Banking Service to establish whether, in the Bank's view, the Customer has or may have in the future the capacity to repay. These factors may include:

i the Customer's income and expenditure;
ii the purpose of the Banking Service;
iii credit and/or behaviour scoring and
iv the Customer's assets and liabilities.
14.0 JOINT ACCOUNTS AND SUBSIDIARY CARDS

14.1 A Bank shall provide to Customers opening a joint account general descriptive information on:

i how funds may be withdrawn from the joint account having regard to the instructions given by the Customers;
ii the manner in which such instructions can be varied; and
iii the nature of liability for indebtedness on joint account.

14.2 When accepting a Customer's instructions to issue a subsidiary credit or debit card, a Bank shall:

i provide general descriptive information to the primary cardholder on his or her liability for debts incurred by the subsidiary card holder by use of the card; and
ii inform the primary card holder of the means by which a subsidiary card may be cancelled or stopped and the fact that this may not be effective until the subsidiary card is surrendered.
15.0 GUARANTEES

15.1 This section shall apply to each guarantee and each indemnity (whether or not contained in a security) (called "guarantee" in this section 15) obtained from a third party who is an individual (called "the guarantor" in this section 15) for the purpose of securing any financial accommodation or facility provided by a Bank to any person (called "the borrower" in this section 15) other than -

i a public company or any of its Affiliates;
ii a company of which the guarantor is a director, secretary or member or any of its Affiliates;
iii a trustee of a trust (including a discretionary trust) of which the guarantor or a company or a Affiliate that is referred to in paragraph (ii) is a beneficiary or one of a class of beneficiaries under the trust; and<
iv a partner, co-owner, agent, consultant or associate of any of the guarantor, a company or Affiliate referred to in paragraph (ii) or a trustee referred to in paragraph (iii); at the time the guarantee is obtained. The term "public company" has the meaning set out in section 4 of the Companies Act, 1995.

15.2 A Bank may only accept a guarantee if the amount of the guarantor's liability is limited to, or is in respect of, a specific amount plus other liabilities (such as interest and recovery costs) that are described in the guarantee.

15.3 Subject to obtaining the consent of the affected borrower, a Bank shall send to a guarantor:

i a copy of any formal demand that is sent to the borrower; and
ii on request by the guarantor, a copy of the latest relevant statements of account provided to the borrower, if any.

15.4 A guarantor may at any time extinguish the guarantor's liability to a Bank under a guarantee by paying to the Bank the then outstanding liability of the borrower to the Bank (including any future or contingent liability) or by making other arrangements satisfactory to the Bank for the release of the guarantee.

16.0 ADVERTISING

16.1 A Bank shall ensure that its advertising and promotional literature drawing attention to a Banking Service is not deceptive or misleading.

16.2 In any advertising in the print-media and any promotional literature that draws attention to a Banking Service and includes a reference to an interest rate, at the annualised percentage rate, the Bank shall also indicate whether other standard fees and charges will apply and that full details of the relevant Terms and Conditions are available on application.

17.0 CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS

17.1 Subject to the terms and conditions of any relevant Banking Service, a Bank:

i will upon request by the Customer close an Account of the Customer that is in credit;
ii may close an Account of the Customer that is in credit by giving the Customer notice that is reasonable in all the relevant circumstances and repaying the Customer the amount of the credit balance; and
iii may charge the Customer an amount that is a reasonable estimate by the Bank of the costs of closure.
Part A - Disclosures. This part describes the information which a Bank will provide to a Customer in respect of the Banking Services which the Bank offers to the Customer.

Part B - Principles of Conduct. This part describes certain principles of conduct which a Bank will follow in dealing with its Customers.

Part C - Resolution of Disputes. This part requires Banks to have dispute handling procedures.