HM Treasury

The complainant has requested information from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”), a part of HM Treasury (“HMT”), about the granting of a specific license. HMT stated that it could neither confirm nor deny whether the requested information is held, relying on section 40(5b)(a)(i)(personal data) of FOIA. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation HMT also sought to rely on section 41(2)(information provided in confidence) to neither confirm nor deny whether the requested information is held. The Commissioner’s decision is that HMT is entitled to rely on section 40(5B)(a)(i) and section 41(2) to neither confirm nor deny whether the requested information is held. The Commissioner does not require any steps. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2023/0306 under appeal.