Almost 30 per cent of Jamaicans questioned by the Stone Polling Organisation in its latest opinion survey say they now have less confidence in the privacy of customer accounts in the banking system because of the Trafigura affair.

At the same time, 31 per cent of those polled believed that anyone who breached bank confidentiality rules should be punished, even if the whistleblower’s motive was to expose corruption.

Stone conducted the poll October 21 – 25 using a representative sample of 1,473 voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

According to Stone, when they asked voters about their views of the banking system in light of the Trafigura affair, 29.6 per cent said they had less confidence; 6.9 said they had more confidence; 21.6 per cent said that their confidence remained unchanged; while 41.9 per cent either did not know or had no answer.

“About 30 per cent of those interviewed said that they had less confidence in the privacy of customer accounts in the local banking system as a consequence of the Trafigura affair,” said the pollsters.

However, they found that the respondents’ views were mostly coloured by their political affiliation.

Said Stone: “It should be noted that those who identified themselves as PNP supporters were more likely than those who identified themselves as JLP voters to feel that they had less confidence in the banking systems.”

The issue of bank/customer confidentiality was one of the more hotly debated in the Trafigura affair after Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, in publicising Trafigura’s controversial transfer of $31 million to the ruling People’s National Party, waved copies of bank cheques showing the transaction.

The bank, FirstCaribbean, opened an investigation to determine whether Golding got the cheques from one of its employees, and if so, how. It has also sought to allay customers’ fears that their accounts would not be exposed.

“We are doing everything we possibly can to resolve this matter and would like to assure not just our customers but the entire country that our bank employs sound policies and takes very seriously breaches of customer confidentiality,” FirstCaribbean’s Managing Director Milton Brady told the Observer in an interview last month.

But even while FirstCaribbean continues its investigation, debate continues to rage on whether the person who provided Golding with the information should be penalised or praised.

Stone said that when they asked the question “Do you think ‘whistleblowers’ should be punished or applauded if they breach bank confidentiality rules in order to turn the spotlight on corruption in high places?”, a total 31 per cent of respondents said yes, they should be punished, 21.4 per cent felt that ‘whistleblowers’ should be applauded for their action, while 47.6 per cent said they didn’t know or gave no answer. But those answers, the pollsters said, were also influenced by partisan politics.

“Again, PNP supporters were more likely to support punishing ‘whistleblowers’ than JLP supporters,” said Stone.