Designated Business civil penalties charged

Summary

The request sought details on civil penalties charged under the Designated Business Act, including amounts, dates, and breached sections. The authority disclosed a breakdown of penalties imposed from 2019 to 2022, noting that most were £5,000 fines for unregistered business activity, with some mitigated or waived due to exceptional circumstances.

Key Facts

• Penalties were primarily imposed under Section 7 of the Designated Businesses (Registration and Oversight) Act 2015 for carrying on business without registration.
• The standard civil penalty amount is £5,000 per contravention.
• Between 2019 and 2022, a total of 12 penalties were recorded, with varying outcomes including full payment, mitigation, waiver, or appeal.
• The Authority has the discretion to mitigate or waive penalties if circumstances are deemed exceptional.
• Penalties collected are paid into the General Revenue of the Island.

Data Disclosed

• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022
• £5,000
• £1,500
• 3 penalties (2019)
• 3 penalties (2020)
• 5 penalties (2021)
• 1 penalty (2022)
• 12 months custody
• 2 years custody
• 28 days
• Section 7
• Section 30
• Article 6

Original Request

i would like to know what penalties had been charged as part of the Designated Business Act and the registration for the same. I would appreciate it if information provided details: the level of penatly charged the date of the penalty the section/ rule breached thank you

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Isle of Man Financial Services Authority PO Box 58, Finch Hill House, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1DT Tel: +44 (0)1624 646000 Website: www.iomfsa.im

Our ref: 2434901 19 May 2022

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on 10 May 2022 and which states:
"i would like to know what penalties had been charged as part of the Designated Business Act and the registration for the same. I would appreciate it if information provided details: the level of penatly charged the date of the penalty the section/ rule breached thank you" In response to our request for clarification on 12 May you said: “The information I require relates to what penalties have been charged/ issued by the Financial Services Authority in respect of the designated business act surrounding the registration or enrolment of the same. The level of penalties issued and which offence they relate to. This would be for all penalties within the previous 30 months.”

Our response to your request is as follows: Date No of penalties imposed Section of Act under which penalty imposed Amount of each penalty imposed Notes 2019 3 7 £5,000 1 paid in full 2 mitigated to £1,500 due to exceptional circumstances 2020 3 7 £5,000 2 paid in full 1 waived due to exceptional circumstances 2021 5 7 £5,000 3 paid in full 1 waived due to exceptional circumstances 1 under appeal 2022 1 (to 10/5/22) 7 £5,000 Due to be paid shortly

Additional information Section 7 of the Designated Businesses (Registration and Oversight) Act 2015 (‘the Act’) addresses “Prohibition on carrying on designated business if not registered” and provides for sanctions under sub-section (4): “A person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and liable — (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or to a term of custody not exceeding 12 months, or to both; or (b) on conviction on information to a fine or to a term of custody not exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or to both.” Section 30 of the Act provides: “(1) If the Authority is satisfied that a person is in breach of section 7 (prohibition on carrying on a designated business if not registered) or has failed to — (a) comply with a condition attached under section 10 (conditions of registration); (b) submit the annual return required under section 13(1)(a) (annual returns and fees) or any information to be submitted with the return, as required by the Authority; (c) pay the annual fee required by section 13(1)(b); (d) give a notice required under section 19(b) (supply of information) without reasonable excuse; or (e) comply with a direction issued under section 26, it may require the registered person to pay a penalty of such amount as may be prescribed in respect of the contravention. (2) However, no penalty may be required under this section if — (a) the Authority revokes or intends to revoke the registered person’s registration under section 11(1) (revocation of registration); or (b) criminal proceedings have been commenced in respect of the contravention. (3) If the Authority intends to impose a penalty, it must give notice in writing to the registered person concerned giving notice of the decision, the amount of the penalty it proposes to impose and the reasons for the decision. (4) The Authority may prescribe additional circumstances in which a civil penalty may be imposed in lieu of criminal proceedings under this Act. (5) An order under this section may make further provision about civil penalties. (6) Any amount received as a penalty is paid into and forms part of the General Revenue of the Island.” The Designated Businesses (Civil Penalties) Order 2015 applies to “all persons carrying on a designated business that are required to be registered under the Act” and Article 6 provides: “(1) Unless subsection (2) of section 30 of the Act (civil penalties) applies, a registered person must pay a penalty for each contravention of a requirement detailed in paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 30(1) of the Act in accordance with the Schedule. (2) A person in breach of section 7 of the Act (prohibition on carrying on a designated business if not registered) must pay a penalty of £5,000.

(3) The Commission may mitigate a penalty under (1) or provide that no penalty is payable if it considers that the circumstances are so exceptional that it would be unfair to require the registered person to pay the full penalty. (4) The Commission may mitigate a penalty under (2) or provide that no penalty is payable if it considers that the circumstances are so exceptional that it would be unfair to require the person to pay the full penalty. (5) Any penalty due must be paid to the Commission within 28 days of the penalty being imposed.” ( The IoM Financial Services Authority superseded the Financial Supervision Commission in November 2015 and assumed the powers of the latter). Some penalties imposed were waived or mitigated due to exceptional circumstances. Please quote the reference number 2434901 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Freedom of Information Coordinator