CH232400 - How to do a compliance check: information powers: financial institution notices: examples of when a request may or may not be onerous
The confidential customer records held by a Financial Institution that are available for the Financial Institution’s customer, or files held about the customer such as “know your customer” information, are not normally expected to be onerous to provide, see CH232200, however you need to consider whether such records are kept centrally or on searchable IT systems, see CH232300.
Example 1
A Financial Institution explains that information needed by HMRC is held on an obsolete IT system which will need specialist assistance to access. In these circumstances it may be appropriate to use a tribunal approved third party notice.
Example 2
A Financial Institution explains that the information is held in paper format only. Whether a manual search would be onerous will depend on the circumstances. If the papers are not onerous to access, then the FIN is still appropriate.
It is also possible to give a longer time to comply with a notice if more time is needed to overcome a particular difficulty. If this is agreed in a discussion with the Financial Institution after issue of the FIN, you can send an email or letter to confirm this.
Example 3
You are checking the tax position of a company who operates non-standard tax periods, mid-month to mid-month, and request information from the Financial Institution in relation to those periods.
The Financial Institution tells you that all their records are for standard calendar months/years (1st to 31st, etc.). Although you have the legal right to ask for records covering the exact tax period you are checking, you can be flexible to accommodate this situation and not place undue onerousness on the Financial Institution. This may mean accepting documents covering some days before the tax period you are checking and some days after to make it easier for the Financial Institution.