Cap. 476 Art. 16Power to appoint inspectors and to conduct on-site inspections.

(1)(a) Without prejudice to any powers of the competent authority arising under any other law, in the exercise of its powers under this Act and, or under the Market

Abuse Regulation, the competent authority may either act directly or it may act indirectly by appointing an inspector or inspectors being any officer or employee of the competent authority or any other person whom the competent authority deems competent for this purpose to investigate and report on the affairs of any person whose affairs or actions are being investigated in relation to a possible breach of this Act.

(b) When appointing an inspector the competent authority may direct that the investigation shall be carried out within such time and shall be confined to such specific or general matters as the competent authority may deem fit.

(2) In the exercise of his functions, an inspector upon producing, if required, evidence of his authority shall have the power -

(a) to investigate the affairs of any person mentioned in articles 14 and 15 if he thinks it necessary or expedient for the purposes of an investigation under this Act;

(b) to exercise all the powers, conferred on the competent authority by articles 14 and 15;

(c) to carry out on-site inspections and to have reasonable access and entry to the business premises, offices, documentation and other information necessary or expedient for the purposes of an investigation under this Act;

(d) to enter premises occupied by a person for the purpose of obtaining there the information or documents required by the notice in terms of articles 14 or 15, or otherwise for the purpose of the investigation, and of exercising any of the powers conferred by the said articles: Provided that where the inspector has reasonable cause to believe that if any notice as is referred to in articles 14 or 15 were served it would not be complied with or that any documents to which it could relate would be removed, tampered with or destroyed, the inspector may enter any premises referred to in sub-article (2) for the purpose of obtaining there any information or documents that could have been required under such notice referred to in articles 14 or 15.

(3) An inspector appointed in terms of this article shall -

(a) have the power to make interim reports and on the conclusion of his investigation he shall make a final report to the competent authority if so directed by the competent authority; and

(b) be subject to professional secrecy.

(4) Where the competent authority has appointed a person as inspector under this article, such person shall, for the purposes of carrying out his functions under his appointment, have all the powers conferred on the competent authority by this article and a requirement made by him shall be deemed to be and shall have the same force and effect as a requirement of the competent authority.

(5) For the purposes of any action taken under the provisions of this article, the competent authority may request the assistance of the Commissioner of Police, who may for such purpose exercise such powers as are vested in him by law in relation to the investigation of criminal offences.

(6) In the event that it results that the investigated person may have been in breach of this Act and, or the Market Abuse Regulation, the competent authority shall have power to order that all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of an investigation pursuant to this article be paid by such person. Any such order which shall be communicated to the person concerned by a notice for payment shall:

(a) be in writing; and

(b) require the addressed person to pay the expenses of and incidental to the investigation before the end of such period being not less than fourteen days from the date of service of the notice, as may be specified in the notice:

Provided that any person who feels aggrieved by an order served on him in terms of this sub-article may appeal to the Tribunal against the decision of the competent authority in accordance with article 23.