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Section 400: Offences by bodies corporate etc.

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 · 2000 c. 8View on legislation.gov.uk

Part XXVII: Offences

If an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is shown—

to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer, or
to be attributable to any neglect on his part,

the officer as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body.

If an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is shown—

to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner, or
to be attributable to any neglect on his part,

the partner as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

In subsection (3) "partner" includes a person purporting to act as a partner.

"Officer", in relation to a body corporate, means—

a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity; and
an individual who is a controller of the body.

If an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is shown—

to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the association or a member of its governing body, or
to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such an officer or member,

that officer or member as well as the association is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

References in this section to an offence under this Act include a reference to an offence under Part 7 of the Financial Services Act 2012 (offences relating to financial services).

Regulations may provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Treasury consider appropriate, to a body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside the United Kingdom.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.