Monetary penalties Section 149 (2) of the 2017 Act says the Treasury must, at such intervals as it considers appropriate, publish reports about the imposition of monetary penalties under section 146 or 148. OFSI will normally publish details of all monetary penalties it imposes, as a summary of the case. Publishing such details helps increase awareness, deter future non-compliance and promote good practice. This summary will set out the following:
who the penalty has been imposed on - each person, company or entity
the summary facts of the case, including breach type, sanctions regime, the regulation broken, and whether there was voluntary disclosure
the aggregated GBP value of the transactions which are in breach of the regulations, where this can be identified, and why OFSI imposed the monetary penalty (where applicable)
the GBP penalty value imposed on each person (where applicable)
compliance lessons OFSI wishes to highlight in this case, to help others avoid committing a similar breach
other information required to give a true understanding of the case and OFSI’s consideration of it.
9.2 Non-monetary penalty OFSI may also choose to publish details of breach cases where no monetary penalty has been imposed. Further details on the circumstances in which OFSI may choose to make such a disclosure are set out in Chapter 10 of this guidance. We may draw attention to the imposition of a monetary penalty or breach of financial sanctions where no monetary penalty has been imposed through media relations, highlighting the case and the action we took. We will not generally make public more than a summary of the case. To do so may increase the risk of financial sanctions contravention, particularly where a new technique has been used to circumvent the law. Any information not published may be exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We will review and consider any FOI request on its own merits. OFSI will continue to assess each breach on a case-by-case basis and determine what remedial action is appropriate in line with the principles set out in this guidance.
9.3 Other circumstances There may be circumstances in which we decide that it is not appropriate to publish a summary, for example where it is not in the public interest to do so or where the impact of publishing is considered to be disproportionate. It is for the person to tell us during representations about any effect that publication of a report may have, and we will consider it at that point. We would normally expect to publish a summary where it is in the public interest and there may be compliance lessons to be shared, therefore, the bar for not doing so will be high. OFSI recognises there may be different publication considerations where the breach has been carried out by an individual rather than an entity. If we do not publish a summary or decide it is not proportionate, we will satisfy the requirement at section 149(2) by either publishing an anonymised report, or by including the case in statistical information and any aggregated reporting OFSI publishes.
9.4 Timing of publication where a monetary penalty is imposed OFSI will not normally publish the case summary where a monetary penalty has been imposed until after the person has had the opportunity to exercise their right to a review - either they have asked for a review and the Minister or senior official has decided a monetary penalty should be imposed, or once the deadline for requesting a review set out in this guidance has elapsed. If the person, after requesting a review, subsequently appeals to the Upper Tribunal, and if the tribunal subsequently amends or quashes the penalty, OFSI will publish amended information setting this out in place of our original report.