UK Offence Report

Penalties for non-compliance

regulation 17(4) of The Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd's Syndicate and Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2008

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

4 If an annual report which is approved under paragraph

12 of Schedule

1 does not comply with the requirements of these Regulations, the managing agent of the Lloyd’s syndicate and every person who was

a director or partner of the managing agent at the time when the accounts were approved who—

a knew that they did not comply, or was reckless as to whether they complied, and

b failed to take reasonable steps to secure compliance with those requirements or, as the case may be, to prevent the accounts from being approved, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to

a fine, and on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 17(4)?

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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd's Syndicate and Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2008.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2008-08-15); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
22 July 2008
In force from
15 August 2008
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations revoke and replace the Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd’s Syndicate and Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/3219) (“the 2004 Regulations”). They specify the form and content of syndicate annual accounts and the aggregate accounts, and require the preparation of underwriting year accounts. These Regulations update the implementation of Council Directive 91/674/EEC on the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of insurance undertakings as amended by Directive 2003/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18.6.2003 in relation to Lloyd’s. They also implement, in part, Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17.5.2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts (O.J. L157, 9.6.2006, p.87), and Directive 2006/46/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 14.6.2006 amending Council Directives 78/660 on the annual accounts of certain types of companies, 83/349/EEC on consolidated accounts, 86/635/EEC on the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of banks and other financial institutions and 91/674/EEC on the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of insurance undertakings (OJ L 224 of 16.8.2006, p.1). Regulation 5 re-enacts the requirements of the 2004 Regulations that managing agents of syndicates must prepare annual accounts for each syndicate for which they are responsible on 31st December for the preceding financial year, and requires managing agents to ensure the preparation of an annual report and an auditor’s report. Schedule 1 specifies the form and content of the syndicate annual accounts (in Part 1); sets out the requirements which must be satisfied by the managing agent’s annual report (in Part 2) and makes provision in relation to the auditors of the syndicate accounts (in Part 3). Schedule 2 sets out the information on auditor’s remuneration which must be included in the accounts, following the provision made in the Companies (Disclosure of Auditor Remuneration and Liability Limitation Agreements) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/489). Regulation 6 re-enacts the requirements of the 2004 Regulations for the preparation of a separate set of accounts, to be separately audited, and prepared on an underwriting year basis, in respect of any underwriting year which is being closed by way of reinsurance to close. Regulation 7 makes provision for the approval and signing of the syndicate annual accounts. Regulation 8 re-enacts the requirements for managing agents of a syndicate to send copies of the accounts prepared under regulations 5 and 6 to the members of the syndicate, the Council of Lloyd’s and the Financial Services Authority. Regulation 9 re-enacts the requirement for the Council of Lloyd’s to make copies of syndicate accounts that it receives available to the public on reasonable notice. Regulations 10 and 11 make provision in relation to the auditor’s report, imposing equivalent functions on auditors to those imposed by the Companies Act 2006. Regulations 12, 13 and 14 implement Article 28.1 of the Audit Directive on the signature of the auditor’s report on the syndicate annual accounts and the underwriting year accounts. Regulation 15 makes provision in relation to the publication of the statutory accounts. Regulation 16 applies section 469 of the Companies Act 2006 to the syndicate annual accounts, implementing Article 50a of Directive 78/660. Regulation 17 makes it an offence for managing agents to fail to comply with the requirements set out in Part 2 of the Regulations. Regulation 18 re-enacts the requirements of the 2004 Regulations for the Council of Lloyd’s to prepare aggregate accounts in respect of each financial year. Regulation 19 makes provision for the approval and signature of the aggregate accounts. Regulation 20 re-enacts the requirement in the 2004 Regulations for the Council of Lloyd’s to prepare an annual report. Further provision as to the information which must be contained in the annual report is made in Part 1 of Schedule 3, and regulation 21 makes provision for the approval and signature of the annual report. Regulation 22 re-enacts the requirements in the 2004 Regulations for the Council of Lloyd’s to obtain an auditor’s report on the aggregate accounts. Regulations 23 to 25 implement Article 28.1 of the Audit Directive on the signature of the auditor’s report on the aggregate accounts, and regulation 26 re-enacts the requirements in the 2004 Regulations on the auditor’s duties in relation to the aggregate accounts. Part 2 of Schedule 3 makes further provision in relation to the auditor of the aggregate accounts. Regulation 27 re-enacts the requirements in the 2004 Regulations on the publication of the aggregate accounts and the annual report of the Council of Lloyd’s, and their delivery to the Financial Services Authority. Regulation 28 makes it an offence for members of the Council of Lloyd’s to fail to comply with the requirements set out in Part 3 of the Regulations. Regulation 29 re-enacts the provision made by the 2004 Regulations for the statutory functions imposed on the Financial Services Authority in relation to overseeing the preparation and delivery of accounts by Lloyd’s syndicates and the Council of Lloyd’s. An Impact Assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations, as has a transposition note showing how the main provisions of Directives 2006/43/EC and 2006/46/EC, as they apply to Lloyd’s, are being transposed into UK law. A copy of both documents can be obtained from the Financial Stability and Risk Team, HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2 HQ. Both documents are also available on the Treasury website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk) and copies have been placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament.

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