# Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, Section 172: General false statement offences

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

For section 32 of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 substitute—
“False statements: basic offence
32 (1) It is an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to—
(a) deliver or cause to be delivered to the registrar, for the purposes of this Part, a document that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or
(b) make to the registrar, for the purposes of this Part, a statement that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.
(2) Where the offence is committed by a legal entity, every officer of the entity who is in default also commits the offence.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine;
(b) on summary conviction in Scotland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;
(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
False statements: aggravated offence
32A (1) It is an offence for a person knowingly to—
(a) deliver or cause to be delivered to the registrar, for the purposes of this Part, a document that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or
(b) make to the registrar, for the purposes of this Part, a statement that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.
(2) Where the offence is committed by a legal entity, every officer of the entity who is in default also commits the offence.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine (or both);
(b) on summary conviction—
(i) in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court or a fine (or both);
(ii) in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both);
(iii) in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both).”

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/56/section/172 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-2023/section-172
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.