Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

BANKING ACT 1959 - SECT 62AA

  (1)   This section applies if:

  (a)   under this Act, a person requires a lawyer;

  (i)   to give information; or

  (ii)   to produce a book, account or document; and

  (b)   either:

  (i)   giving the information would involve disclosing; or

  (ii)   the book, account or document contains;

    a privileged communication made by, or on behalf of or to the lawyer in his or her capacity as a lawyer.

  (2)   The lawyer is entitled to refuse to comply with the requirement unless:

  (a)   if the person to whom, or by or on behalf of whom, the communication was made is a body corporate that is under administration or is being wound up--the administrator or the liquidator of the body; or

  (b)   otherwise--the person to whom, or by or on behalf of whom, the communication was made;

consents to the lawyer complying with the requirement.

  (3)   If the lawyer so refuses, he or she must, as soon as practicable, give to the person who made the requirement a written notice setting out:

  (a)   if the lawyer knows the name of the person to whom, or by or on behalf of whom, the communication was made--that name and address; and

  (b)   if subparagraph   (1)(a)(i) applies and the communication was made in writing--sufficient particulars to identify the document containing the communication; and

  (c)   if subparagraph   (1)(a)(ii) applies--sufficient particulars to identify the book, account or document, or the part of the book, account or document, containing the communication.

  (4)   A person commits an offence if he or she refuses or fails to comply with a requirement under this section.

Penalty:   30 penalty units.