Burma (Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2005

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 26th April 2004 (the “EC Regulation”) relating to financial sanctions are criminal offences.

The enforcement of other provisions of the EC Regulation are dealt with in the Burma (Sale, Supply, Export, Technical Assistance, Financing and Financial Assistance and Shipments of Equipment) (Penalties and Licences) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1315).

The EC Regulation has had various amendments, most recently by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 667/2005 of 28th April 2005. Schedule 1 to these Regulations lists the amending instruments.

Regulation 2 provides that breaches of the following provisions of the EC Regulation are criminal offences:–

• Article 6(1) which provides for the freezing of funds and economic resources belonging to individual members of the Burmese Government and person or entities associated with them as listed in Annex III to the EC Regulation as amended;

• Article 6(2) which prohibits the making available of funds or economic resources directly or indirectly to or for the benefit of persons listed in Annex III to the EC Regulation as amended;

• Article 6(3) 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 6(1) and (2);

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

• 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 provisions in Article 8a(1); and

• Article 9, which requires all persons to immediately provide 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 makes it an offence to provide false information in connection with a request for authorisation under Article 7(1) of the EC Regulation.

Regulation 4 and Schedule 2 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 evidence is a criminal offence. Unauthorised disclosure of information acquired under Schedule 2 is also a criminal offence.

Regulations 5 and 6 proscribe the penalties and procedures for breaches of regulations 2, 3, 4 and Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Regulation 7 revokes the Regulations that previously enforced the financial sanctions in the EC Regulation.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations, as they have no [minimal] impact on the cost of business.