The Burma/Myanmar (Financial Restrictions) Regulations 2009

Regulation 18

SCHEDULE Information gathering provisions

1.  The Treasury must take such steps as they consider appropriate to cooperate with any domestic and international investigation relating to the funds, economic resources or financial transactions of a designated person or a designated enterprise.

2.—(1) A relevant institution must as soon as practicable inform the Treasury if it knows or suspects that a relevant person—

(a) is a designated person or a designated enterprise; or

(b) has committed an offence under regulation 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14 or 17.

(2) A relevant institution, where it informs the Treasury under sub-paragraph (1), must state—

(a) the information or other matter on which the knowledge or suspicion is based;

(b) any information it holds about the relevant person by which the person can be identified; and

(c) where the relevant person is a designated person, the nature and amount or quantity of any funds or economic resources held by the relevant institution for that person since the person first became listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No. 1081/2000, Annex III to Regulation (EC) No. 798/2004, Annex III to Regulation (EC) No. 817/2006 or Annex VI to the EC Regulation.

(3) A relevant institution must inform the Treasury without delay if it credits a frozen account in accordance with regulation 8(2).

(4) A relevant institution which fails to comply with a requirement in sub-paragraph (1), (2) or (3) is guilty of an offence.

(5) In this paragraph, “relevant person” means—

(a) a customer of the institution;

(b) a person who has been a customer of the institution at any time on or after 24th May 2000(1); or

(c) a person with whom the institution has had dealings in the course of its business on or after that date.

3.—(1) The Treasury may request any person to give to them any information or to produce to them any document in that person’s possession or control which they may require for the purpose of—

(a) monitoring compliance with or detecting evasion of these Regulations;

(b) obtaining evidence of the commission of an offence under these Regulations;

(c) establishing—

(i) the nature and amount or quantity of any funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by a designated person; or

(ii) the nature of any financial transactions entered into by a designated person or designated enterprise.

(2) This includes power to—

(a) take copies of or extracts from any document so produced;

(b) request any person producing a document to give an explanation of it; and

(c) where that person is a body corporate, request any person who is a present or past officer, or employee, of the body corporate to give such an explanation.

(3) Any person to whom a request is made must comply with it within such time and in such manner as may be specified in the request.

(4) Nothing in this paragraph shall be taken to require any person who has acted as counsel or solicitor for any person to give or produce any privileged information or document in his or her possession in that capacity.

4.  A person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within a reasonable time) to comply with any request made under paragraph 3;

(b) knowingly or recklessly gives any information or produces any document which is false in a material particular in response to such a request;

(c) with intent to evade the provisions of this Schedule, destroys, mutilates, defaces, conceals or removes any document; or

(d) otherwise wilfully obstructs the Treasury in the exercise of their powers under this Schedule;

is guilty of an offence.

5.  Where a person is convicted of an offence under paragraph 4(a) the court may make an order requiring that person, within such period as may be specified in the order, to give the requested information or to produce the requested document.

6.—(1) The Treasury may disclose any information given or document produced under these Regulations (including any copy or extract made of any such document)—

(a) to a police officer;

(b) to any person holding or acting in any office under or in the service of—

(i) the Crown in respect of the Government of the United Kingdom;

(ii) the Government of the Isle of Man;

(iii) the States of Guernsey or Alderney or the Chief Pleas of Sark;

(iv) the State of Jersey;

(v) any British overseas territory;

(c) for the purpose of giving assistance or cooperation, pursuant to the EC Regulation, to any person in the service of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission or the government of any country;

(d) to the Financial Services Authority;

(e) with a view to instituting, or otherwise for the purposes of, any proceedings—

(i) in the United Kingdom, for an offence under these Regulations; or

(ii) in any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or any British overseas territory, for an offence under a similar provision in any such jurisdiction; or

(f) with the consent of a person who, in his or her own right (and not merely in the capacity of servant or agent), is entitled to the information or to the possession of the document, to any third party.

7.  An action done under this Schedule is not to be treated as a breach of any restriction imposed by statute or otherwise.

(1)

This is the date on which Council Regulation (EC) No. 1081/2000 came into force.