Assistance to foreign regulatory authorities

(1) Subject to sub-section (2), a supervisory authority may, on the written request of a foreign regulatory authority, do any of the following– (a) exercise any powers conferred on the supervisory authority, by this or any other Act, to require a person to provide information or produce documents; 138[CAP. 104 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) (b) make any the authority is authorised to make under Part III; or (c) disclose or provide documentation to a foreign whether the or documentation– (i) was obtained by the exercise of a power specified in paragraph (a); or (ii) is otherwise in the possession of the (2) A supervisory authority shall not exercise the power conferred on it by sub-section (1) unless it is of the opinion that the information or documentation to which the request relates, or the investigation is sought, is reasonably required by the foreign regulatory authority for the purposes of its regulatory or supervisory functions. (3) In deciding whether or not to exercise the power conferred on it by sub-section (1), a supervisory authority may take into account, in particular– (a) whether corresponding assistance would be given to the supervisory authority in the country or territory of the foreign regulatory authority making the request; (b) whether the request relates to the breach of a law, or other requirement, which has no close parallel in Belize or involves the assertion of a jurisdiction not recognised by Belize; (c) the nature and seriousness of the matter to which the request for assistance relates, the importance of the matter to persons in Belize and whether the assistance can be obtained by other means; (d) the relevance of the or documentation to the enquiries to which the request relates; and (e) whether it is otherwise appropriate in the public interest to provide the assistance sought. (4) For the purposes of sub-section (3)(a), a supervisory authority may require the foreign regulatory authority making the request to give a written undertaking, in such form as the supervisory authority may require, to provide corresponding assistance to the supervisory authority. (5) If a foreign regulatory authority fails to comply with a requirement of the supervisory authority made under sub- section (4), the supervisory authority may refuse to provide the assistance sought by the foreign regulatory authority. (6) A supervisory authority may decide that it will not, on the request of a foreign regulatory authority, exercise its powers under this section unless– (a) it has received satisfactory assurances from the foreign regulatory authority that any information provided to it will not be used in any criminal proceedings against the person furnishing it, other than proceedings for an offence that relates to– (i) a failure or refusal by that person to produce documents or give assistance in accordance with this Act; (ii) an omission by that person to disclose material which should have been 140[CAP. 104 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) disclosed or the provision by that person of false or misleading information; or (iii) an untruthful statement by that person; (b) the foreign regulatory authority undertakes to make such contribution towards the cost of exercising its powers as the supervisory authority considers appropriate; and (c) it is satisfied that the foreign regulatory authority is subject to adequate legal restrictions on further disclosure of the information and documents and that it will not, without the written permission of the (i) disclose information or documents provided to it to any person other than an officer or employee of the authority engaged in the exercise of any of its regulatory or supervisory functions; or (ii) take any action on information or documents provided to it. (7) Where, in accordance with this section, the supervisory authority would, on the written request of a foreign regulatory authority, be entitled to disclose information or provide documentation in its possession to that foreign regulatory authority, the supervisory authority may disclose such information or documentation to the foreign regulatory authority without having received a written request from the