(1)If it appears to a judicial authority in the United Kingdom, on an application made by a prosecuting authority, that—
(a)a person is subject to an investigation in the United Kingdom into serious criminal conduct,
(b)the person holds, or may hold, an account at a bank which is situated in a participating country, and
(c)the information which the applicant seeks to obtain is likely to be of substantial value for the purposes of the investigation,
the judicial authority may request assistance under this section.
(2)The judicial authorities are—
(a)in relation to England and Wales, any judge or justice of the peace,
(b)in relation to Scotland, any sheriff,
(c)in relation to Northern Ireland, any judge or resident magistrate.
(3)If it appears to a prosecuting authority mentioned in subsection (4) that paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) are met, the authority may itself request assistance under this section.
(4)The prosecuting authorities are—
(a)in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland, a prosecuting authority designated by an order made by the Secretary of State,
(b)in relation to Scotland, the Lord Advocate or a procurator fiscal.
(5)The assistance that may be requested under this section is any assistance in obtaining from a participating country one or more of the following—
(a)information as to whether the person in question holds any accounts at any banks situated in the participating country,
(b)details of any such accounts,
(c)details of transactions carried out in any period specified in the request in respect of any such accounts.
(6)A request for assistance under this section must—
(a)state the grounds on which the authority making the request thinks that the person in question may hold any account at a bank which is situated in a participating country and (if possible) specify the bank or banks in question,
(b)state the grounds on which the authority making the request considers that the information sought to be obtained is likely to be of substantial value for the purposes of the investigation, and
(c)include any information which may facilitate compliance with the request.
(7)For the purposes of this section, a person holds an account if—
(a)the account is in his name or is held for his benefit, or
(b)he has a power of attorney in respect of the account.
In relation to Scotland, a power of attorney includes a factory and commission.