Fund managers and the new offence for failing to prevent evasion

‘Is your plan as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?’ (Captain Blackadder).

A year on from the introduction of the criminal corporate offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion this is the question that fund managers should be asking themselves: is there a plan?

What is the criminal corporate offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion (other than an offence with a rather clunky title)?

The offence is a strict liability offence that applies where a company or partnership anywhere in the world fails to prevent its ‘associated persons’ from criminally facilitating tax evasion anywhere in the world. The diagram (below) illustrates how this is broken down in a fund context.

When might this apply in practice?

• A key investor asks a junior member of...