40.— (1) A person shall not be liable in damages in respect of the making of a protected disclosure.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a person who—

(a) makes a disclosure knowing it to be false or misleading, or

(b) in connection with a disclosure, furnishes information that the person knows to be false or misleading.

(3) The reference in subsection (1) to liability in damages shall be read as including a reference to liability to any other form of relief.

(4) Subsection (1) is in addition to, and not in substitution for, any privilege or defence available in legal proceedings, by virtue of any enactment or rule of law in force immediately before the commencement of this section, in respect of the making of a disclosure by a person to another (whether that other person is an appropriate person or not) of any one or more of the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 38(1).

(5) Subject to any enactment or rule of law, the Bank may not disclose the identity of a person who has made a protected disclosure without first obtaining the person’s consent except in so far as it may be necessary—

(a) for the effective investigation of any matter to which the disclosure relates, or

(b) for the purposes of—

(i) an inquiry by the Bank under section 33AO or 33AR of the Act of 1942,

(ii) subject to section 57W of the Act of 1942, an appeal to the Appeals Tribunal under Part VIIA of the Act of 1942,

(iii) an assessment under Part 5 of the Market Abuse (Directive 2003/6/EC) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 342 of 2005),

(iv) an assessment under Part 15 of the Prospectus (Directive 2003/71/EC) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 324 of 2005),

(v) an assessment under Part 10 of the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 277 of 2007), or

(vi) an investigation or hearing under Part 3 of the Central Bank Reform Act 2010,

in relation to any matter to which the disclosure relates.

(6) Before disclosing a person’s identity in accordance with subsection (5), the Bank shall make all reasonable efforts to notify the person.