Offences for failing to comply with notices
553.Paragraph 13 provides that is an offence for a person (including the officers of the entity in the case of legal persons) to whom a notice is addressed under section 790D or 790E to fail to comply with the notice or to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement.
554.The offence does not however apply if the person can prove that the requirement was frivolous or vexatious (paragraph 13(3)). The offence is triable either way, punishable by imprisonment or a fine. This is based on the offence provision in section 795 of CA 2006 (‘Notice requiring information: offences’), which applies to persons failing to comply with notices issued under section 793 (‘Notice by company requiring information about interests in its shares’). The offences are considered sufficiently similar such that the same penalty should apply.