Confidential information

73.(1) The Commissioner and a public officer appointed pursuant to section 72(1) shall keep secret all confidential information coming to his knowledge during the course of the administration of this Act or any other Act that the Commissioner has jurisdiction to administer or enforce, except insofar as disclosure is necessary for the administration of this Act or insofar as the Commissioner authorises that person to release the information.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply where disclosure is required pursuant to

(a) an order made by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(b) a duty or obligation imposed by any enactment; or

(c) an international agreement to which Barbados is a party.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) subject to subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $50 000 or to imprisonment for a term of 12 months, or to both.

(4) In this section, “confidential information” means information of any kind and in any form that relates to one or more persons and that is obtained by or on behalf of the Commissioner for the purpose of administering or enforcing this Act or any enactment that the Commissioner has jurisdiction to administer or enforce, or that is prepared from such information, but does not include information that does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the person to whom it relates.