Freezing of funds
4.—(1) Where the Treasury have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person by, for or on behalf of whom any funds are held is or may be a designated person or a person acting on behalf of a designated person, the Treasury may by notice direct that those funds are not to be made available to that person, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Treasury under article 3.
(2) A direction must specify either—
(a)the period for which it is to have effect; or
(b)that it is to have effect until it is revoked by notice.
(3) The Treasury may by notice revoke a direction at any time.
(4) The expiry or revocation of a direction does not affect the application of article 3 in respect of the funds in question.
(5) A notice under paragraph (1) or (3) must—
(a)be given in writing to the person holding the funds in question (“the recipient”), and
(b)require the recipient to send a copy of the notice without delay to the person whose funds they are, or on whose behalf they are held (“the owner”).
(6) A recipient is to be treated as complying with the requirements in paragraph (5) if—
(a)he sends a copy of the notice to the owner at his last-known address without delay, or
(b)where he does not have an address for the owner, he makes arrangements for a copy of the notice to be supplied to the owner at the first available opportunity.
(7) The High Court or, in Scotland, the Court of Session may set aside a direction on the application of any person by, for or on behalf of whom those funds are held.
(8) A person who makes an application under paragraph (7) must give a copy of the application and any witness statement or affidavit in support to the Treasury (and to any other person by, for or on behalf of whom those funds are held) not later than seven days before the date fixed for the hearing of the application.
(9) A person who contravenes a direction is guilty of an offence.
(10) A recipient who fails to comply with such a requirement as is mentioned in paragraph (5) is guilty of an offence.