Explanatory note

These Regulations are made under the Banking Act 2009 (c. 1) (“the Act”).

These Regulations specify persons to whom the Bank of England may disclose information it has obtained by virtue of section 204(1) of the Act and the manner and extent of publication of such information.

Section 204(1) of the Act enables the Bank of England to require a person to provide information which the Bank thinks will help the Treasury in determining whether to specify an inter-bank payment system as a “recognised system” under section 184(1) of the Act, or which the Bank otherwise requires in connection with its functions under Part 5 of the Act (inter-bank payment systems) (“specified information”).

Section 204(4) provides that the Bank of England may disclose information obtained under section 204(1) to certain persons including the Treasury, the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) and overseas authorities with similar functions to those of the Treasury, FSA or the Bank in respect of inter-bank payment systems. Section 204(6) of the Act provides that the Treasury may make regulations permitting the disclosure of specified information to other persons.

Regulations 3 to 6 specify the other persons to whom the Bank of England may disclose specified information and the circumstances in which it may do so, for example, for the purposes of criminal investigations and proceedings (regulation 4).

Section 204(7) permits the Bank of England to publish specified information. Regulation 7 specifies the manner and extent of publication under that subsection.

An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as no significant impact on business, charities, voluntary bodies or the public sector is foreseen.