1.The Member States shall provide that all persons working or who have worked for the competent authorities, as well as auditors or 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 in the course of their duties may be divulged to any person or authority whatsoever, except in summary or aggregate form, such that individual assurance undertakings cannot be identified, without prejudice to cases covered by criminal law. Nevertheless, where an assurance 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 the different Member States from exchanging information in accordance with the directives applicable to assurance undertakings. That information shall be subject to the conditions of professional secrecy indicated 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 referred to 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 assurance 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, or - to impose sanctions, or - in administrative appeals against decisions of the competent authority, or - in court proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 50 or under special provisions provided for in the directives adopted in the field of assurance 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 assurance undertakings and in other similar procedures, and - persons responsible for carrying out statutory audits of the accounts of assurance undertakings and other financial institutions, in the discharge of their supervisory functions, and 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 these authorities, bodies and persons shall be subject to the obligation of professional secrecy laid down in paragraph 1.
6.In addition, notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 4, 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 assurance undertakings and to inspectors acting on behalf of those departments. However, such disclosures may be made only where necessary for reasons of prudential control. However, Member States shall provide that information received under paragraphs 2 and 5 and that obtained by means of the on-the-spot verification referred to in Article 16 of Directive 79/267/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.