The changes to existing legislation, enacted at the end of last year, come amid increasing fears that the battle against money laundering -- which has intensified since September 11 -- is being hampered by the recent reforms.
Transport secretary Stephen Byers is set to announce that credit agencies such as Experian be allowed to use the electoral roll for a limited number of purposes, although direct marketing agencies will still be banned from accessing personal details from the register.
It is thought that the changes will see credit agencies allowed access to details such as verifying the identity of people seeking credit.
The news will be welcomed by the direct marketing industry, which relies on the electoral roll to help keep mailing lists up to date.
However, Byers is also thought to be considering introducing an option that would allow consumers to opt out so that their names and addresses would not be publicly available.
The ban was introduced at the end of last year after Brian Robertson, from Wakefield, Yorkshire, took legal action against his local council after it refused to confirm that his name and address would not be supplied to commercial companies without his consent.
Robertson then declined to register this year and lost the right to vote in the general election.
The judge, Maurice Kay, found that the government had breached the European Convention on Human Rights because the interference with Robertson's private life was disproportionate and unjustified.
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