UK Offence Report

2 A paying agent or receiving agent who fails to take all reasonable steps— a to establish the identity and…

article 17(2) of The Montserrat Reporting of Savings Income Information Order 2005

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

2 A paying agent or receiving agent who fails to take all reasonable steps—

a to establish the identity and residence of

a relevant payee, or

b to verify the name, address and residence of

a relevant payee as required by article 9, shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding $3,000.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
an paying agent
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Objective fault
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What an paying agent personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: fails to take all reasonable steps.

What would breach article 17(2)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where an paying agent fails to take all reasonable steps— a to establish the identity and residence of a relevant payee, or b to verify the name, address and residence of a relevant payee as required by article 9.
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Montserrat Reporting of Savings Income Information Order 2005, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
7 June 2005
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order in Council ensures that arrangements are in place in Montserrat as envisaged by Article 17(2)(ii) of Council Directive 2003/48/EC of 3rd June 2003 on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments (“the European Savings Directive”) as amended by the Council Decision 2004/587/EC of 19 July 2004 concerning the date of application of the European Savings Directive. The Order requires information to be reported to the Inland Revenue Department in Montserrat (“the Department”) about savings income paid to, or secured for, an individual resident in a member State of the European Community in the course of a business or profession. The same is required in respect of some entities resident in member States of the European Community. Part 1 of this Order makes provision about — a who is required to make a report; “paying agents” and “receiving agents”; b persons in respect of whom a report needs to be made; “relevant payees” and “residual entities”; and c what is meant by “savings income”. Part 2 of this Order makes provision for — a obtaining and verifying information about the individual who receives the savings income or for whose benefit it is received or secured; and b the information which needs to be reported to the Department. Part 3 of this Order makes provision for— a reports to be made to the Department and the time within which reports must be made, and b penalties for failing to report. Part 4 of this Order makes provision for audits and issues related to audits. Part 5 of this Order (read with the Schedule) contains transitional provisions in respect of negotiable debt securities. Part 6 of this Order deals with the interaction of the provisions of the Order and other law in Montserrat where the two conflict. It also makes provision about the civil and criminal liability in respect of disclosures which are required or authorised by the Order.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source