Section 8 | Restriction on disclosure of information furnished under section 7.

(1)No return or other information furnished in compliance with a notice served under section 7(1), nor any information obtained on an examination of books or other documents produced in compliance with a requisisition made under that subsection, shall, without the written consent of the person carrying on the business to which the returns or other information or the books or other documents relate, be disclosed otherwise than—

(a)in the form of a summary of similar returns or information furnished by, or obtained from, a number of persons, being a summary so framed as not to enable particulars relating to any individual business to be ascertained from it; or

(b)to the Secretary of State or an officer of his.

(2)Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to any disclosure of information made for the purposes of any legal proceedings (whether civil or criminal and including an arbitration) pursuant to this Act, or for the purposes of any report of any such proceedings.

(3)If any person discloses any information in contravention of subsection (1), he shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or

(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine.