18.—(1) This section applies to the following persons:

(a) a person who is the holder of a licence F93[or authorisation under section 9A];

(b) any person who carries on—

(i) a business of an associated company or related body of the holder of a licence F93[or authorisation under section 9A], or

(ii) a business in respect of which the person is, because of section 7(4)(b), exempt from being required to hold a licence F93[or authorisation under section 9A], or

(iii) a business as an investment trust company, or

(iv) a business as a moneybroker, or

(v) a business as a financial intermediary, or

(vi) a business of issuing, holding or otherwise participating in any market in financial instruments, including those to which Chapter VIII of Part II of the Central Bank Act 1989 applies.

(2) A person to whom this section applies shall provide the Bank, at such times, or within such periods, as the Bank specifies from time to time, with such information and returns concerning the relevant business carried on by the person as the Bank specifies from time to time.

(3) A person to whom this section applies shall, at such time or within such period as the Bank specifies, provide the Bank with such information or return (not being information or a return specified under subsection (2)) as it requests in writing concerning the relevant business carried on by the person.

(4) A reporting agent designated by the European Central Bank shall provide the Bank or the European Central Bank, at such times or within such periods as the Bank or the European Central Bank specifies from time to time, with such information and returns concerning the activities of the agent as the Bank or the European Central Bank specifies from time to time.

(5) A reporting agent designated by the European Central Bank shall, at such time or within such period as the Bank or European Central Bank specifies, provide the Bank or European Central Bank with such information or return (not being information or a return specified under subsection (4)) as the Bank or European Central Bank requests in writing concerning the activities of the agent.

(6) The Bank may specify information or a return for the purposes of this section only if it considers it necessary to have that information or return for the proper performance of the functions imposed, or the proper exercise of the powers conferred, on it by law.

(7) The European Central Bank may specify information or a return for the purposes of subsection (4) or (5) only if that Bank considers it necessary to have that information or return for the proper performance by that Bank of tasks and duties imposed, or the proper exercise of the powers conferred, on that Bank by or under the Rome Treaty or the ESCB Statute.

(8) A person shall not provide for the purpose of this section information or a return that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material respect.

(9) This section applies to the business of an associated company or a related body only in so far as the information and returns sought by the Bank are, in its opinion, materially relevant to the proper appraisal of the business of the holder of the licence F93[or authorisation under section 9A] concerned.

(10) In this section—

“information and returns” and “information or return” include audited accounts and audited group accounts, and any other documents that are equivalent or correspond to audited accounts or audited group accounts;

“money broker” has the same meaning as it has in section 108 of the Central Bank Act 1989, for the purposes of Chapter IX of that Act;

“relevant business”, in relation to a person to whom this section applies, means—

(a) in the case of a person who is the holder of a licence F93[or authorisation under section 9A], the banking business to which the licence relates, or

(b) in the case of a person referred to in subsection (1)(b), the business carried on by the person. ]