Abstract
This article adopts a sociolegal perspective in analysing the sociological conditions underpinning the emergence of a bank confidentiality law in the 'offshore' financial centre of Monaco. It utilizes three analytical distinctions in approaching the social, legal and political dimensions of the law and moves beyond superficial claims that Monaco's proposed law merely represents a codification of hitherto informal principles and practices. Issues surrounding the globalization of Monaco's banking market and its effects upon the legal culture of confidentiality are explored. However, changes in the legal culture of offshore financial centres should not be equated with an erosion of the state, which is shown to play a constitutive role in sociolegal transformations. In the final section of the article, the implications of the discussion for the sociolegal dimensions of offshore financial centres are drawn out, offering a blueprint for future comparative study on the legal cultures of globalized financial centres.
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