Commentary on provisions of Act Section 10: Duty of a regulator to provide information to overseas regulator
This Section imposes a duty on regulators to assist individuals who are or have been entitled to practise the relevant profession in the UK, by providing information to overseas regulators. This information is to enable those overseas regulators to determine that individual’s entitlement to practise in the overseas regulator’s country or territory.
	Subsection (1) addresses the circumstances in which a regulator is obliged to provide information to an overseas regulator. The individual must be or have been entitled to practise a regulated profession in the UK, or part of the UK, and be seeking to practise a corresponding profession in a country or territory outside the UK.
	Subsection (2) places a duty on UK regulators to provide overseas regulators of the corresponding profession with information they require to make a decision on the entitlement of the individual to practise in that country. This extends to any information held by the UK regulator about the individual that the UK regulator is requested to provide by either the overseas regulator, or the individual themselves.
	Subsection (3) provides that, where an overseas regulator is requesting information on an individual, the duty does not apply if it is made without the permission of that individual.
	Subsection (4) allows the "appropriate national authority", provided it is within their legislative competence, to make regulations they consider appropriate in connection with the duty of a regulator to provide information to an overseas regulator set out in subsection (2). This includes the ability to limit that duty.
	Subsection (5) gives more detail on the specific limitations that could be included in regulations made under this Section. These include, but are not limited to, provisions to the effect that the duty only applies to certain specified information or if the request is made in a specified manner.
	Subsection (6) provides that any information that is shared with overseas regulators does not breach confidentiality obligations or other restrictions on disclosure that are placed on the regulator.
	Subsection (7) explains that no provision in this Section requires information to be disclosed where to do so would breach the data protection legislation, as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018, section 3(9). The obligations imposed in this Section are to be considered when determining whether any disclosure breaches that legislation.
	Subsection (8) defines the terms "corresponding profession" and "overseas regulator".