Introduction
Conclusive evidence clauses ("CECs"), often found in
banking documents, are essentially clauses providing that a
determination of liability (which tends to involve the issuance of
a certificate) shall be a conclusive determination of both the
liability of a debtor and the amount payable by such debtor. An
illustrative example is as follows: when a CEC is incorporated into
the terms and conditions governing a bank account, the bank will be
legally entitled to consider the bank statements as conclusive
evidence of all that is presented within the bank statements of the
account holder – this includes particulars of all
transactions within. The incorporation of a CEC into an agreement
imposes a duty on bank customers to verify their own bank
statements, and notify the bank of any discrepancies within a
certain period of time. If bank customers do not do so, they will
be precluded from challenging their liability and amount payable on
their part.
