INDEPENDENT PRESS STANDARDS ORGANISATION C.I.C. FINANCIAL SANCTIONS GUIDANCE Introduction Where the Regulator's Board has the power to impose a sanction on a Regulated Entity, the Regulator's Board has discretion on whether to impose a fine and its amount. The Regulator's Board will only impose fines where the Regulated Entity's conduct is sufficiently serious. The following guidance is designed to assist the Regulator's Board in acting effectively and proportionately when exercising its discretion to impose financial sanctions. Guidance Subject to paragraph 2.2 below, the Regulator's Board shall have the power to fine a Regulated Entity up to 1% of its UK annual turnover relating to the Publication(s) (both print and electronic) which is/are, following a Standards Investigation, found to have committed a Systemic Failure (as defined in the Regulations). The maximum fine which the Regulator's Board may impose on any one Regulated Entity shall be £1,000,000 in respect of each Standards Investigation. In determining the level of the fine or costs to be imposed on a Regulated Entity, the Regulator's Board shall take into account the following factors: the nature of the Regulated Entity including its size, the number of staff employed, number of Publications, circulation figures of the Publication(s) and annual turnover; the nature of the Regulated Entity's conduct and its impact; whether the Regulated Entity's conduct was inadvertent or repeated or deliberate or reckless; any aggravating or mitigating factors relating to the Regulated Entity's conduct (see paragraph 2.4 below); any adjustments for deterrence, if appropriate; any discounts for early settlement, if appropriate; and any other financial penalties or other sanction imposed on the Regulated Entity by any other body. The following non-exhaustive list of factors may have the effect of aggravating or mitigating a Regulated Entity's conduct: the conduct of the Regulated Entity in bringing (or failing to bring) quickly, effectively and completely the matter concerned to the Regulator's attention;
INDEPENDENT PRESS STANDARDS ORGANISATION C.I.C. Introduction FINANCIAL SANCTIONS GUIDANCE Where the Regulator's Board has the power to impose a sanction on a Regulated Entity, the Regulator's Board has discretion on whether to impose a fine and its amount. The Regulator's Board will only impose fines where the Regulated Entity's conduct is sufficiently serious. The following guidance is designed to assist the Regulator's Board in acting effectively and proportionately when exercising its discretion to impose financial sanctions. Guidance Subject to paragraph 2.2 below, the Regulator's Board shall have the power to fine a Regulated Entity up to 1% of its UK annual turnover relating to the Publication(s) (both print and electronic) which is/are, following a Standards Investigation, found to have committed a Systemic Failure (as defined in the Regulations). The maximum fine which the Regulator's Board may impose on any one Regulated Entity shall be £1,000,000 in respect of each Standards Investigation. In determining the level of the fine or costs to be imposed on a Regulated Entity, the Regulator's Board shall take into account the following factors: the nature of the Regulated Entity including its size, the number of staff employed, number of Publications, circulation figures of the Publication(s) and annual turnover; the nature of the Regulated Entity's conduct and its impact; whether the Regulated Entity's conduct was inadvertent or repeated or deliberate or reckless; any aggravating or mitigating factors relating to the Regulated Entity's conduct (see paragraph 2.4 below); any adjustments for deterrence, if appropriate; any discounts for early settlement, if appropriate; and any other financial penalties or other sanction imposed on the Regulated Entity by any other body. The following non-exhaustive list of factors may have the effect of aggravating or mitigating a Regulated Entity's conduct: the conduct of the Regulated Entity in bringing (or failing to bring) quickly, effectively and completely the matter concerned to the Regulator's attention;
financial-sanctions-guidance.docx