The Burma (Prohibition on Financing) Regulations 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide that breaches of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 798/2004 of 26 April 2004 (“the EC Regulation”), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1853/2004 of 25 October 2004 are criminal offences.

Breaches of provisions of the EC Regulation relating to the freezing of funds were made criminal offences under the Burma (Freezing of Funds and Economic Resources) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1257); and breaches of provisions of the EC Regulation relating to military activities and equipment used for internal repression were made criminal offences under the Burma (Sale, Supply, Export, Technical Assistance, Finance and Financial Assistance and Shipment of Equipment) Penalties and Licences Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1315).

The provisions in question in these Regulations are:

(a) Article 8a(1)(a) which prohibits the granting of any financial loan or credit to Burmese state-owned enterprises as listed in Annex IV to the EC Regulation, or the acquisition of bonds, certificates of deposit, warrants or debentures issued by those enterprises;

(b) Article 8a(1)(b) which prohibits the acquisition or extension of a participation in Burmese state-owned enterprises listed in Annex IV to the EC Regulation, including the acquisition in full of such enterprises and the acquisition of shares and securities of a participating nature;

(c) Article 8a(2) which prohibits the knowing and intentional participation in activities the object or effect of which is, directly or indirectly, to circumvent the prohibitions in Article 8a(1); and

(d) Article 9 which requires all persons to provide immediately to the Treasury or the Bank of England and to the European Commission any information which would facilitate compliance with the EC Regulation, but requires such information to be used only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.

Regulation 3 and the Schedule make provision for information to be requested by or on behalf of the Treasury or the Bank of England for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the EC Regulation. Failure to provide such information, the provision of false information or the suppression of information is a criminal offence. Unauthorised disclosure of information acquired under the Schedule is also a criminal offence.

Regulation 4 makes provision with respect to penalties and proceedings for offences under these Regulations.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.