ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: John Kaye and Piers Desser, Carson Kaye
in place. Penalties include unlimited fines, alongside serious reputational and regulatory consequences. 3.6 Cartels and Anti-Competitive Offences Cartel and competition law enforcement is primarily civil and administrative, but certain conduct is also criminalised. The main civil regime is under the Competition Act 1998, which prohibits agreements and concerted practices that restrict competition, including price- fixing, market sharing, bid-rigging, and output limita - tion (the “Chapter I prohibition”). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and sector regulators may impose significant administra - tive penalties, including fines of up to 10% of world - wide group turnover for up to three years of infringe - ment. On the criminal side, the Enterprise Act 2002 creates the offence of cartel conduct, which includes dishon - est agreements between competitors to fix prices, limit production, share markets or rig bids. The offence requires dishonesty, assessed objectively, and applies to individuals rather than companies. Individuals convicted of cartel offences may face up to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, as well as director disqualification. There is also a leni - ency regime, under which individuals or companies may avoid prosecution or receive reduced penalties by self-reporting and co-operating with the CMA. 3.7 Counterfeiting Counterfeiting and criminal IP infringement are pri - marily prosecuted under the Trade Marks Act 1994, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and related criminal fraud legislation. Under the Trade Marks Act 1994, it is a criminal offence to falsely apply a registered trade mark, to sell or distribute goods bearing a false mark or to possess goods for such purposes in the course of trade. The offence requires knowledge or belief that the mark is counterfeit.
Under the CDPA 1988, it is an offence to make, sell, distribute or possess infringing copies of copyrighted works (eg, software, music, and films) in the course of business, particularly where there is intent to obtain a commercial advantage or cause loss to the rights holder. In serious cases, conduct may also be prosecuted as fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 where there is dishon - est representation that goods are genuine. Penalties include unlimited fines and up to ten years’ imprisonment, alongside seizure of infringing goods, civil injunctions, and account of profits claims by rights holders. 3.8 Greenwashing and Environmental Pollution Violations England and Wales recognise greenwashing and environmental harm primarily as regulatory and civil wrongs with certain conduct also giving rise to crimi - nal liability. Greenwashing is mainly addressed through consumer protection and financial services law. Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) (and their successor regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consum - ers Act framework), misleading environmental claims may constitute misleading actions or omissions, enforceable by the CMA or Trading Standards, with criminal liability for serious breaches. In financial markets, the FCA regulates ESG-related disclosures under the UK Sustainable Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and financial promotion rules, with powers to impose fines and restrictions. Environmental pollution offences arise under statutes such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Water Resources Act 1991 and permitting regimes admin - istered by the Environment Agency. Offences include unlawful emissions, disposal of controlled waste, and breach of environmental permits.
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