United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

"body corporate" includes a Scottish partnership and, in relation to such a partnership, any reference to a director of a body corporate is a reference to a partner; and

(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 this Schedule;

(b) intentionally furnishes false information or a false explanation to any person exercising his powers under this Schedule; or

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

is guilty of an offence.

     3.  - (1) No information furnished or document produced (including any copy or extract made of any document produced) by any person in pursuance of a request made under this Schedule shall be disclosed except:

(a) with the consent of the person by whom the information was furnished or the document was produced: provided that a person who has obtained information or is in possession of a document only in his capacity as servant or agent of another person may not give consent for the purposes of this sub-paragraph but such consent may instead be given by any person who is entitled to that information or to possession of that document in his own right;

(b) to any person who would have been empowered under this Schedule to request that it be furnished or produced or any person holding or acting in any office under or in the service of the Crown in respect of the Government of the United Kingdom;

(c) on the authority of the Treasury, to the European Commission or to any of the competent authorities listed in Annex II to the EC Regulation, for the purpose of assisting the Commission or that competent authority to ensure compliance with the EC Regulation; or

(d) with a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purposes of, any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations.

    (2) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, discloses information or a document in contravention of sub-paragraph (1) is guilty of an offence.

(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.