The government is to give Ofgem tough new anti-insider trading powers to seize documents from wholesale energy companies in bulk.
The BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) department announced new powers yesterday, which are designed to help the energy regulator tackle market abuses in the wholesale market.
Under the regulator’s existing powers, its investigators are allowed to seize documents while searching premises if it believes they are relevant to their probe.
However when presented with large bundles of documents, it may not be practical for investigators to determine which ones are relevant, or not on the spot, particularly when they are stored electronically.
The BEIS paper, outlining the new powers, says: “It may be impractical or even impossible to separate relevant from irrelevant documents on the premises”.
The government’s move equips Ofgem investigators with powers under section 50 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which allow large volumes of documents to be seized for sifting on a different site.
In their feedback to a consultation document outlining the proposals, which was published last year, industry groups argued that Ofgem did not need the extended powers, which were described as ‘disproportionate or unnecessary’, particularly because they could result in the seizure of commercially-sensitive documents.
In its paper, the government says any documents seized will be returned as soon as possible after they have been seized.
The new powers will be introduced through secondary legislation.