1.The Member States shall provide that all persons working or who have worked for the competent authorities, as well as auditors and experts acting on behalf of the competent authorities, shall be bound by the obligation of professional secrecy. This means that no confidential information which they may receive while performing their duties may be divulged to any person or authority whatsoever, except in summary or aggregate form, such that individual insurance undertakings cannot be identified, without prejudice to cases covered by criminal law. Nevertheless, where an insurance undertaking has been declared bankrupt or is being compulsorily wound up, confidential information which does not concern third parties involved in attempts to rescue that undertaking may be divulged in civil or commercial proceedings.
2.Paragraph 1 shall not prevent the competent authorities of different Member States from exchanging information in accordance with the Directives applicable to insurance undertakings. Such information shall be subject to the conditions of professional secrecy laid down in paragraph 1.
3.Member States may conclude cooperation agreements, providing for exchanges of information, with the competent authorities of third countries only if the information disclosed is subject to guarantees of professional secrecy at least equivalent to those provided for in this Article.
4.Competent authorities receiving confidential information under paragraphs 1 or 2 may use it only in the course of their duties: - to check that the conditions governing the taking up of the business of insurance are met and to facilitate monitoring of the conduct of such business, especially with regard to the monitoring of technical provisions, solvency margins, administrative and accounting procedures and internal control mechanisms, - to impose sanctions, - in administrative appeals against decisions of the competent authorities, or - in court proceedings initiated under Article 56 or under special provisions provided for in the Directives adopted in the field of insurance undertakings.
5.Paragraphs 1 and 4 shall not preclude the exchange of information within a Member State, where there are two or more competent authorities in the same Member State, or, between Member States, between competent authorities and: - authorities responsible for the official supervision of credit institutions and other financial organizations and the authorities responsible for the supervision of financial markets, - bodies involved in the liquidation and bankruptcy of insurance undertakings and in other similar procedures, and - persons responsible for carrying out statutory audits of the accounts of insurance undertakings and other financial institutions, in the discharge of their supervisory functions, or the disclosure to bodies which administer compulsory winding-up proceedings or guarantee funds of information necessary to the performance of their duties. The information received by those authorities, bodies and persons shall be subject to the conditions of professional secrecy laid down in paragraph 1.
6.In addition, notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 4, the Member States may, under provisions laid down by law, authorize the disclosure of certain information to other departments of their central government administrations responsible for legislation on the supervision of credit institutions, financial institutions, investment services and insurance companies and to inspectors acting on behalf of those departments. However, such disclosures may be made only where necessary for reasons of prudential control. The Member States shall, however, provide that information received under paragraphs 2 and 5 and that obtained by means of the on-the-spot verification referred to in Article 14 of Directive 73/239/EEC may never be disclosed in the cases referred to in this paragraph except with the express consent of the competent authorities which disclosed the information or of the competent authorities of the Member State in which on-the-spot verification was carried out.