Domestic Trust Register to be confidential

(1) The Domestic Trust Register shall not be open for public inspection except that the settlor or trustee of a trust may in writing authorize a person to inspect the entry of that trust on the Register. (2) The Registrar shall not disclose any information contained in the Domestic Trust Register to any person without the settlor’s or trustee’s written authorization except where a written request is made to him by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, the Commissioner of Police or other regulatory or enforcement authority, certifying that such information is reasonably required to facilitate a criminal investigation, prosecution or proceeding, whether in Belize or elsewhere, including an investigation into locating the proceeds of crime and any proceedings for the enforcement of a confiscation or forfeiture order made in Belize or elsewhere. (3) The Registrar may by notice in writing to the settlor or trustee require the settlor or trustee to provide the Registrar, at a time as may be specified, any information or documentation which the Registrar may reasonably require for ensuring that the trust complies with the provisions of this Act or for any other fit and proper cause. (4) Any power conferred by virtue of sub-section (3) that requires a settlor or trustee to produce any document or information shall include a power to take copies thereof and extracts therefrom. (5) Where a settlor or trustee fails to produce a document or supply the information when required to do so by the Registrar, the Registrar may, in accordance with section 63A(7), cancel the registration of the trust. (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the forgoing provisions of this section, no restriction on the disclosure of information contained in the Domestic Trust Register shall apply to a request for information by the competent authority under a tax information exchange agreement entered into by Belize, or under the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.