The Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025

Power to impose a civil penalty or require compensation

20.—(1) Where the Secretary of State finds that a business purchaser has failed to comply with a requirement under these Regulations, the Secretary of State may require the business purchaser to pay either, or both, of the following—

(a)a civil penalty;

(b)compensation to the qualifying seller.

(2) A business purchaser may be required to pay a civil penalty or compensation in respect of each and every failure to comply with these Regulations.

(3) The maximum amount of a civil penalty is 1% of the business purchaser’s turnover.

(4) The Secretary of State may recover any unpaid civil penalty as a debt.

(5) Sums received by the Secretary of State as payment for civil penalties are to be paid into the consolidated fund.

(6) A business purchaser’s “turnover” is the business purchaser’s applicable turnover for the business year preceding the date of the notice of decision under regulation 24.

(7) Where the business year preceding the date of the decision notice did not equal twelve months, the turnover is the business purchaser’s applicable turnover for that business year divided by the number of months in that business year and multiplied by twelve.

(8) Where there was no preceding business year, the turnover is the applicable turnover for the twelve months ending on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the Secretary of State gave the decision notice to the business purchaser.

(9) Where in the application of paragraph (8) the business purchaser has turnover for a period of less than twelve months, the turnover is the applicable turnover in that period divided by the number of months in that period and multiplied by twelve.

(10) In this regulation—

“applicable turnover” is the sum of—

after deduction of trade discounts, value added tax and other taxes based on the amounts so derived or received;

“business year” means a period of more than six months in respect of which a business purchaser published accounts or, if no such accounts were published for the period, prepared accounts.

(11) Amounts are to be calculated in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and practices.