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- 1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall exchange such information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered by this Agreement, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to this Agreement. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1.
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- 2. Any information received under paragraph 1 by a Contracting Party shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that Party and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to the taxes referred to in paragraph 1. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions, including, in the case of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the decisions of the Board of Review.
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- 3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting Party the obligation:
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- (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contract­ing Party;
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- (b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting Party;
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- (c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, busi­ness, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy.
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- 4. If information is requested by a Contracting Party in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting Party shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though that other Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting Party to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.
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- 5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 be construed to permit a Contracting Party to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or a fiduciary capacity or because it relates to ownership interests in a person.