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UK Court of Appeal Rules NCA’s Refusal to Investigate Cotton Imports From Uyghur Region Unlawful

The ruling propels UK law enforcement to increase its investigative powers under POCA, and businesses to enhance their supply chain due diligence. On 27 June 2024, the UK Court of Appeal found that the National Crime...more

SFO Announces Ambitious Five-Year Plan

The Serious Fraud Office’s strategy for 2024 to 2029 indicates aspiration to be a more effective agency and to incentivise personnel. On 18 April 2024, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) published an ambitious, albeit...more

Avoiding Buyer’s Remorse in M&A Deals

Changing market dynamics have led buyers to assess available options to address post-closing target company issues. Amid the buoyant market of 2021 and early 2022, compressed deal timelines and frenzied competition...more

Investor Directors in the Hot Seat as Enforcement Risk Grows

Greater focus on strong corporate governance and transparency is placing company directors in the UK and elsewhere under growing scrutiny and increased risk of individual civil and criminal liability. As new case law and...more

Can Forced-Labour Goods Trigger UK Money Laundering Violations?

A court recently found that UK authorities did not fetter their discretion by not investigating general cotton imports potentially produced by the forced labour of Uyghur people in China. On 20 January 2023, the High...more

UK Economic Crime Bill to Reform Companies House

The UK government is taking further measures to tackle economic crime in the UK, reforming its corporate register, and giving extra powers to the Serious Fraud Office. The UK has published the new Economic Crime and...more

Law Commission Proposes Reforms to Corporate Criminal Liability in the UK

The proposal outlines 10 possible ways to strengthen corporate liability by both criminal and civil law reforms. On 10 June 2022 the Law Commission published an eagerly anticipated set of proposals (the Options Paper) to...more

Report Identifies Weaknesses in UK Companies’ Modern Slavery Act Statements

A recent report concluded that modern slavery considerations are still not a mainstream concern for many companies. In April 2022, the Financial Reporting Council, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, and Lancaster...more

High Court Determines Exceptions to ‘Without Prejudice’ Privilege in Recent Disputes

Two cases illustrate the narrow scope of application for exceptions to the without prejudice rule of legal privilege. Background - In two recent judgments, the High Court found exception to the ‘without prejudice’ rule...more

Court of Appeal: Professional Privilege Must Pass the “Dominant Purpose” Test

The Court narrowly interprets dominant purpose to exempt general tax advice from legal privilege. In Financial Reporting Council Ltd v Frasers Group Plc (formerly Sports Direct International Plc) [2020] EWHC 2607 (Ch), the...more

UK Releases Guidance on Modern Slavery Act Reporting

The UK government continues to prioritise combatting modern slavery risks while also extending reporting deadlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 April 2020, the UK government published guidance for companies on how to...more

Court of Appeal Clarifies Legal Professional Privilege

The Court ruled on the “dominant purpose” test and offered guidance on the status of multiparty emails, and attachments. Two recent Court of Appeal judgments have sought to clarify, and offer practical guidance relating...more

Unexplained Wealth Orders Subject to Rigorous Judicial Scrutiny

Recent judgments help to clarify purpose and threshold of unexplained wealth orders. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has had a mixed start to 2020, with appeals heard on unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) testing the new...more

English Appellate Court Restricts Scope of Litigation Privilege

Litigation privilege and the circumstances in which courts will inspect documents over which privilege has been claimed. In a significant decision, the English Court of Appeal has restricted the scope of litigation...more

UK Serious Fraud Office Director Outlines Priorities in Keynote Speech

New director Lisa Osofsky confirms her focus on cross-border and corporate cooperation. On 3 September 2018, in her first speech, after only one week as head of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Lisa Osofsky laid out her...more

UK To Provide Compensation for Overseas Victims of Economic Crimes

A new UK policy establishes a commitment to providing victims of overseas bribery with compensation; however, important questions remain that will impact implementation. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Crown...more

5 Predictions for the UK’s Serious Fraud Office Under New Director

New director Lisa Osofsky’s cross-border and corporate experience may lead the SFO in a fresh direction. The announcement that Lisa Osofsky has been appointed as Director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) likely...more

Jukes: English Appellate Decision on Litigation Privilege in Internal Investigations

The English Court of Appeal provides further guidance, approving ENRC, on when litigation privilege will not apply to information gathering materials. The English Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) has ruled that...more

English High Court Decision Reinforces Application of Litigation Privilege in Internal Investigations

The decision indicates that company counsel should consider early how best to anticipate challenges to privilege claims over investigation materials. Introduction - A recent English High Court decision has important...more

Bilta v. RBS: When Will Litigation Privilege Apply to Information Gathering in Internal Investigations

The English High Court has reconfirmed that litigation privilege can apply to information gathering in internal investigations. Specifically, lawyers must have engaged in the information gathering for the dominant purpose of...more

UK Supreme Court Redefines Criminal Dishonesty Test

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the criminal dishonesty test in R v Ghosh is wrong and that courts should no longer follow this test. The recent decision in Ivey v Genting Casinos clarifies that the test for...more

Corporate Criminal Liability: the UK is Now Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk

The UK’s growing focus on corporate criminal liability was seen in two recent pieces of news. Last Friday the government announced a consultation on extending the reach of corporate criminal liability to additional...more

The Modern Slavery Act 2015: Transparency Reporting Provisions

What do the new UK transparency reporting provisions mean for companies? The UK is at the forefront of the global move to tackle human trafficking and prevent modern forms of slavery by introducing the Modern Slavery Act...more

Watch out for Modern Slavery

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 comes into force next month. The UK is at the forefront of a global move to tackle human trafficking and prevent slavery in supply chains. In June the G7 leaders declared their commitment to the...more

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