In a comment for the publication "Minfin," lawyer Ihor Tereshchenko of the Law Firm "ARES" addressed a situation where PrivatBank restricted a client's financial operations due to a criminal record that was expunged many years ago. The client noted that he only discovered the reason for the account blockage after conducting his own investigation, which caused him both financial losses and emotional distress.

Ihor Tereshchenko emphasized that once a criminal record is expunged, the individual is considered to have no criminal record, and this cannot be a basis for restricting access to banking services. 

The lawyer also pointed out that the legal grounds for a bank to refuse cooperation with a client are determined by the financial monitoring law, which does not include expunged criminal records. Access to confidential information, including data on criminal records, is restricted by law, and unauthorized collection of such data is a violation of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Tereshchenko advised the client to contact the bank to determine the source of this information, and if the issue cannot be resolved out of court, to pursue legal action. He also recommends that others who may find themselves in a similar situation seek protection of their rights from the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ombudsman for Human Rights.