Clause 184
Banking Bill
5:00 pm
Stewart Hosie (Spokesperson (Economy; Home Affairs; Treasury; Women); Dundee East, Scottish National Party)
May we have some comfort from the Minister about whether the penalty that may be levied for a compliance failure can be variable and could be zero? Failures in respect of the code of practice and the system rules, a failure to provide a direction, or a failure to report, can mean anything between being late in issuing a report, as specified in clause 181, and a serious breach of the guidelines or rules, as in previous clauses.
In terms of the limit on the fine, clause 187 says that before a sanction is imposed, a warning is to be issued, and so on. Clause 186, which deals with management disqualification, states:
“A person guilty of an offence is liable...to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum”.
These things apply in specific circumstances. Clause 184 uses the words, “pay a penalty”, as opposed to imposing a sanction. Can the Minister provide some clarity on the nature of the penalties and say whether they are the same as a sanction? Will he clarify whether the penalty or the sanction might be small in the case of a minor breach but larger in the case of a significant systemic failure breach?