UK Offence Report

5 Any person who intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by a warrant under section…

regulation 122F(5) of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Market Abuse) Regulations 2016

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

5 Any person who intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by

a warrant under section 122D is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction—

a in England and Wales, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or

a fine, or both;

b in Scotland, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale, or both;

c in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale, or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally.

What would breach regulation 122F(5)?

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 a person intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by a warrant under section 122D.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Market Abuse) Regulations 2016.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
3 months

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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
28 June 2016
In force from
3 July 2016
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 give effect to Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (market abuse regulation) and repealing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC (OJ No L 173, 14.04.2014, p31) (“MAR”). Part 1 of these Regulations deals with miscellaneous matters in respect of MAR. The Financial Conduct Authority (“the FCA”) is designated as the UK’s competent authority for the purposes of MAR. Part 1 describes how applications or notifications to the FCA under MAR are to be made and when explanations for delaying public disclosure of inside information must be provided to the FCA for the purposes of MAR. Part 1 (in conjunction with the Schedule to the Regulations) also implements Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2015/2392 of 17 December 2015 on Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards reporting to competent authorities of actual or potential infringements of that Regulation (OJ No L 332, 18.12.2015, p126). Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations amend UK law to make it compatible with and implement MAR (in particular there are substantial amendments to the UK market abuse regime under Parts 6 and 8 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c.8) (“FSMA”). The FCA is given new powers to police MAR, including powers to monitor the financial markets and gather information, require the publication of corrective statements and other information, and to suspend the trading of financial instruments. The FCA is also given enforcement powers in respect of contraventions of MAR, to allow it to impose financial penalties and other administrative sanctions such as prohibitions on trading in financial instruments or working in investment firms. The investigative and disciplinary powers in Parts 11 and 14 of FSMA and the powers relating to injunctions and restitution orders in Part 25 of FSMA are also updated so they apply for the purposes of MAR. Part 3 of the Regulations also contains amendments to the Recognised Auction Platforms Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/2699) (“the 2011 Regulations”) which implemented Commission Regulation (EU) No 1031/2010 of 12 November 2010 on the timing, administration and other aspects of auctioning of greenhouse gas emission allowances pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowances trading within the Community (OJ L 302, 18.11.2010, p1) (“the auctioning regulation”). Schedule 1 to the 2011 Regulations, which modified Part 8 FSMA to implement the market abuse regime in the auctioning regulation for emission allowances which are not financial instruments, is replaced. These Regulations recast those modifications so the powers in FSMA which relate to MAR also apply with appropriate modifications for the purposes of the regime under the auctioning regulation. Schedule 1 to the 2011 Regulations will then cease to have effect on 3rd January 2018 when MAR itself will apply to market abuse in relation to all emission allowances on the coming into force of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (OJ No L 173, 12.6.2014, p349). Part 4 of the regulations requires the Treasury to review of these Regulations every 5 years. A validation stage impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from Her Majesty’s Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument at http://www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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