ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that the conventional perception concerning the impotence of the criminal law is misconceived. Not only are the boundaries of the criminal law sufficiently wide to punish instances of reckless behaviour by financial markets participants where they cause loss to others, criminal justice theory demands that it does so. The case for criminal responsibility for reckless risk-taking on the financial markets is a strong one, as the United Kingdom Parliament has recently recognised with the creation of a new criminal offence of taking a risk which causes a bank to fail contrary to s.29 of the Financial Services Act 2013. The consensus of opinion amongst legal practitioners and academic lawyers is that reckless risk-taking on the financial markets does not amount to a fraudulent activity because dishonesty is the litmus test of fraudulent conduct and reckless behaviour, however reprehensible it may be, falls short of dishonesty.
