New UK Guidance Covers Industry Information-Sharing to Detect Sanctions Evasion

The U.K. last week issued new guidance about the information-sharing provisions in its Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, a law meant to increase detection and enforcement of sanctions evasion, terrorism financing, money laundering and other economic crimes. The guidance outlines the “voluntary” measures within the law that are designed to give “greater clarity and comfort” to companies when sharing information about potentially risky customers, the U.K. said, and describes how companies “can ensure that they are protected by the provisions when undertaking direct and indirect sharing.”

The guidance notes that companies can no longer face “civil liability” for breaching confidentiality rules when they’re directly sharing certain customer information with other businesses “for the purposes of investigating, detecting, and preventing economic crime.” Companies are also allowed to share customer information “indirectly” with other businesses, including through a third-party intermediary, such as electronic money institutions, law firms and tax advisers. “The government encourages the use of both direct and indirect sharing under the new provisions to prevent, investigate and detect economic crime,” the U.K. said.

The guidance also covers reporting requirements involving U.K. law enforcement, compliance rules under the country’s General Data Protection Regulation, the various “technical mechanisms” companies can use to share information, and more.