Bank Deposit Secrecy: Upholding Depositor Rights in Insolvency Proceedings

A corporation that has already been declared insolvent still holds one asset the law shields from its creditors: the confidentiality of its bank deposits. In Doña Adela Export International, Inc. v. Trade and Investment Development Corporation and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (G.R. No. 201931, February 11, 2015, 753 Phil. 596), the Supreme Court ruled that creditors cannot strip a depositor of that protection through a compromise agreement the depositor never signed.

Why the case matters

Creditors in insolvency proceedings have an understandable interest in tracing whatever remains of a debtor's estate, including money in the bank. This decision sets a clear boundary: the interest of creditors does not, by itself, open bank records. The depositor's written permission is required, and courts will not infer that permission from silence.

The facts

In August 2006, Doña Adela Export International, Inc. filed a petition for voluntary insolvency before the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong City, Branch 211. The RTC declared the company insolvent, stayed civil proceedings against it, and appointed Atty. Arlene T. Gonzales as receiver.

The company's creditors included the Technology Resource Center (TRC), the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the Trade and Investment Development Corporation (TIDCORP), and the City of Mandaluyong. The receiver later moved for a compromise among the parties, proposing how the remaining assets — land, a building, and sewing machines — would be distributed.

In May 2011, the company and TRC executed a dacion en pago by compromise agreement covering a parcel of land in Mandaluyong City. In July 2011, BPI and TIDCORP filed their own Joint Motion to Approve Agreement. Embedded in that agreement was a "Waiver of Confidentiality" clause stating that the company and its board of directors would waive their rights under