Section 64D: Confidentiality of examination reports

64D. Confidentiality of examination reports (1) Where a written report is made in respect of a financial institution or holder of a licence by the central bank following an examination conducted pursuant to section 64C, the report shall, subject to subsection (2), not be disclosed to any person by – (a) the financial institution or holder of the licence; or (b) any officer or auditor of the financial institution or holder of the licence. (2) The report referred to in subsection (1) may be disclosed – (a) by the financial institution or holder of the licence to any officer or auditor of Acts 2018 249 that financial institution or holder of that licence solely in connection with the performance of the duties of the officer or auditor, as the case may be, in that financial institution; (b) by any officer or auditor of the financial institution or holder of the licence to any other officer or auditor of that financial institution or holder of that licence, solely in connection with the performance of their respective duties in that financial institution or as an officer of the holder of that licence; (c) with the approval of the central bank, to the head office or the holding company of the financial institution, whether in or outside Mauritius, for the purpose of conducting centralised functions of audit, risk management or compliance; or (d) to such other person as the central bank may approve in writing. (3) In granting approval for any disclosure under subsection (2)(c), the central bank may impose such conditions or restrictions as it thinks fit on the financial institution or holder of the licence, any officer or auditor of that financial institution or holder of that licence or the person to whom disclosure is made, and that financial institution, the holder of that licence, officer, auditor or person, as the case may be, shall comply with those conditions or restrictions. (4) The obligations of an officer or auditor under subsections (1) and (3) shall continue after the termination or cessation of the employment or appointment of the officer or auditor by the financial institution or holder of the licence. 250 Acts 2018 (5) Any person who contravenes subsection (1), or fails to comply with any condition or restriction imposed by the central bank under subsection (3), shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable – (a) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding 500,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years; or (b) in any other case, to a fine not exceeding one million rupees. (6) Any person to whom the report referred to in subsection (1) is disclosed and who knows or has reasonable grounds to believe, at the time of the disclosure, that the report was disclosed to him in contravention of subsection (1) or who is in possession of the report without reasonable justification, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable – (a) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding 500,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years; or (b) in any other case, to a fine not exceeding one million rupees. (7) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (6), it shall be a defence for the person to prove that – (a) the disclosure was made without the person’s consent; (b) where the disclosure was made in any written or printed form, he, as soon as practicable, took all reasonable steps to surrender the report and all copies of the report to the central 00 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years; or (b) in any other case, to a fine not exceeding one million rupees. (7) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (6), it shall be a defence for the person to prove that – (a) the disclosure was made without the person’s consent; (b) where the disclosure was made in any written or printed form, he, as soon as practicable, took all reasonable steps to surrender the report and all copies of the report to the central bank; and Acts 2018 251 (c) where the disclosure was made in an electronic form, he, as soon as practicable, took all reasonable steps to ensure that all electronic copies of the report were deleted and that the report and all copies thereof in other forms were surrendered to the central bank. (m) by inserting, after section 96B, the following new section –