· Document Number：No. 27 [2010] of the Supreme People’s Court

· Area of Law： Banking & Finance

· Level of Authority： Documents of Judicial Interpretation Nature

· Date issued：07-14-2010

· Effective Date：07-14-2010

· Issuing Authority： Supreme People's Court People's Bank of China

· Status： Effective

Joint Notice of the Supreme People's Court and the People's Bank of China (PBC) on the People's Court's Inquiry and the PBC's Assistance in Such Inquiry about the Bank Name of the RMB Bank Settlement Account of a Judgment Debtor
(No. 27 [2010] of the Supreme People's Court, July 14, 2010)
The higher people's courts of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the Military Court of the People's Liberation Army; the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Branch of the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region; Shanghai Headquarters of the PBC; all branches and business management departments of the PBC; all central sub-branches of the PBC in provincial capital cities (capital cities of autonomous regions); and Central Sub-branch of the PBC in Shenzhen :
To protect the legitimate rights and interests of creditors and maintain the judicial authority of the state, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China and other laws, we hereby notify you of the following matters concerning the people's court's inquiry about the bank name of the bank settlement account of a judgment debtor through the RMB Bank Settlement Account Management System:
I. The parties under inquiry by the people's courts shall be limited to the debtors determined in effective legal documents, including juridical persons, other organizations and natural persons.
II. If a people's court needs to inquire about the bank name of the bank settlement account of a judgment debtor, the Shanghai Headquarters of the PBC, as well as the branch or business management department of the PBC in a province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government), central sub-branch of the PBC in a provincial capital city (capital city of an autonomous region) or Central Sub-branch of the PBC in Shenzhen where the judgment debtor is registered (or where the organ issuing the identity certificate is located), shall allow the inquiry.
III. For inquiries of the people's courts about the bank names of the settlement accounts of judgment debtors, the higher people's court in the province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government) (including the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City) where the judgment debtor is registered (or where the organ issuing the identity certificate is located) shall exclusively gather such inquiries to handle them in batch.
IV. After examining and organizing the relevant inquiry applications, a higher people's court (including the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City) shall fill out a Notice of Inquiry Assistance (See Annex 1) with the names (identity certificate numbers) and places of registration (places of the organ issuing the identity certificate) of the judgment debtors under inquiry, enforcement court and enforcement case number, affix the official seal of the higher people's court (including the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City), and assign a special person to submit the Notice of Inquiry Assistance (with the electronic text of the Notice of Inquiry Assistance in a compact disc being attached thereto) to the aforesaid local PBC institution on each Monday morning (postponed to the next day if it falls on a holiday).
V. After receiving the Notice of Inquiry Assistance from a higher people's court (including the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City), the aforesaid PBC institution shall verify whether the Notice of Inquiry Assistance contains all the required elements. If no error is found in the verification, it shall, within 5 workdays, search the bank names of the bank settlement accounts of the judgment debtors in the RMB Bank Settlement Account Management System, truthfully fill out a Reply on Inquiry Assistance according to the search results (See Annex 2), and affix the official seal of the PBC or the special seal for inquiry assistance. If some required element is missing in the Notice of Inquiry Assistance upon verification, the aforesaid PBC institution shall disallow the inquiry and notify the relevant people's court in a timely manner.
VI. Information on the bank names of the RMB bank settlement accounts of the judgment debtors is submitted by banking financial institutions to the PBC, and the PBC only gathers such information as submitted by banking financial institutions and is not responsible for examining the authenticity and accuracy of such information.
VII. The people's court shall legally use the information on the bank name of the bank settlement account of a judgment debtor provided by the aforesaid PBC institution, and keep it confidential for the party concerned. The aforesaid PBC institution and the staff members thereof shall keep confidential the inquiry password during the inquiry assistance, and shall not divulge any information related to the inquiry to the parties to the inquiry and their affiliates.

VIII. Any action brought against the aforesaid PBC institution for its provision of assistance for the people's court in inquiring about the bank name of the bank settlement account of a judgment debtor according to this Notice shall be rejected by the people's court.
IX. The people's court shall not take compulsory measures against the aforesaid PBC institution and the staff thereof for implementing this Notice or performing official duties according to law. If any dispute arises, the higher people's court (including the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City) and the aforesaid PBC institution shall resolve the dispute through consultation. If the consultation fails, they shall report the dispute to the Supreme People's Court and the PBC in a timely manner for handling.
X. This Notice shall be officially implemented on the date of issuance, and the originally issued Notice of the Supreme People's Court and the People's Bank of China on the People's Court's Inquiry about the Bank Name of the RMB Bank Settlement Account of a Juridical Person Enforcee during the Period of National Clear-up of Long-pending Enforcement Cases (No. 5 [2009] of the Supreme People's Court) shall be abolished simultaneously.