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Money Laundering Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs)

WilmerHale

Sanctions, Fraud is Coming to Town: 2022 in Review

WilmerHale on

In 2022, the UK was forced to reckon with the charge of being soft on economic crime and being the destination of choice for kleptocrats seeking to launder their ill-gotten funds. No longer able to turn a blind eye to these...more

Dechert LLP

Economic Crime Act tears through Parliament, but does it have any teeth?

Dechert LLP on

In the early hours of 15 March 2022, following a wait of almost five years, the UK Parliament introduced into law the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (the "Act"). The Act was fast-tracked at an...more

WilmerHale

The new Economic Crime Bill: can it deliver on its promises?

WilmerHale on

On March 1, 2022, the UK Government put forward the Economic Crime (Enforcement and Transparency) Bill. The stated aim of the legislation is to “crack down on dirty money in the UK and corrupt elites”, and it is designed to...more

White & Case LLP

Dealing with Account Freezing and Account Forfeiture Orders

White & Case LLP on

In January 2018, UK law enforcement agencies were granted new powers to pursue the forfeiture of assets. Unexplained wealth orders ("UWOs") initially grabbed the media's attention, but the relative ease with which UK law...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

UK Quarterly Review: Business Crime, Investigations, And Regulatory Enforcement

In our Quarterly Review, we bring you important UK developments relating to business crime, investigations, and regulatory enforcement from the last three months. As the UK gets used to life outside the EU and implements...more

BCLP

Unexplained Wealth Orders – how the National Crime Agency got it wrong

BCLP on

On 8 April 2020, the High Court discharged three Unexplained Wealth Orders (“UWOs”) relating to multi-million pound London homes allegedly purchased with the proceeds of crime. In its judgment, the High Court criticised the...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

U.K. Court Strikes Down “Unexplained Wealth Orders” By Parsing Facts and Making Value Judgments About Meaning of Corporate...

Ballard Spahr LLP on

A Court Ruling that May Resonate Across the Globe - The High Court in London recently struck down three “Unexplained Wealth Orders” that U.K. law enforcement had hoped would foil an alleged money laundering scheme by...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

UK Gambling Commission Cracks Down in Respect of Money Laundering Failures

On 12 March 2020, the UK Gambling Commission announced that it will fine online gambling business Betway Limited (“Betway”) £11.6 million for failures in respect of its anti-money laundering controls and handling of seven of...more

K2 Integrity

The Unexplained Wealth Order Imperative: Always Keep Your Financial House in Order

K2 Integrity on

Fact: Many wealthy individuals and families are subject to higher levels of public, governmental, and legal scrutiny. It’s imperative that they keep their financial houses in order because at some point they’ll probably be...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

FATF Evaluates the UK’s and Israel’s AML/CTF Programs and Welcomes Israel as its 38th Member

Ballard Spahr LLP on

On December 7 and 10, 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) released two reports evaluating the United Kingdom’s (“UK”) and Israel’s anti-money laundering (“AML”) and counter-terror financing (“CTF”) programs and...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Cross-Border Investigations Update - January 2019

This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including DOJ guidance on the use of corporate monitors in criminal...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Unexplained Wealth Orders High Court Dismisses First Legal Challenge

The English High Court has dismissed an application to discharge an "unexplained wealth order" ("UWO") against the wife of the former chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan....more

WilmerHale

Unexplained Wealth Orders: More Bark Than Bite (So Far)

WilmerHale on

The UK National Crime Agency (“NCA”) has successfully resisted a challenge to the issue of its first Unexplained Wealth Orders (“UWOs”). The victory comes shortly after the agency announced its intention to expand the use of...more

Jones Day

A New Direction in the United Kingdom's Fight Against Economic Crime?

Jones Day on

The Situation: High-profile money laundering incidents have caught the attention of lawmakers and enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom. The Result: A new director at the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO"), the formation...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

An Introduction To The UK's Unexplained Wealth Orders

Law enforcement authorities in the U.K. have obtained a new instrument in their fight against crime. Starting Jan. 31, 2018, U.K. enforcement authorities can apply for court orders against individuals suspected of being...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

UK introduces new "unexplained wealth orders"

From 31 January 2018, UK enforcement authorities may apply for court orders against persons suspected of being involved in or connected to serious crime or "politically exposed persons" ("PEP") outside the European Economic...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Unexplained Wealth Orders

McGuireWoods LLP on

Background - For some time there has been a perception that the UK is a safe refuge for corrupt individuals seeking to conceal their unlawfully acquired assets. This has particularly been the case with regard to persons...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 Commences with New Tax Evasion Offences, Anti-Money Laundering Rules, and Asset Forfeiture...

On 30 September 2017, Part 3 of the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 (the “CF Act”) came into force creating new corporate offences for failing to prevent the facilitation of UK or overseas tax evasion. Similar to the standard...more

Dechert LLP

UK Criminal Finances Act 2017: A Dechert "Dirty Money" Trilogy: Part Three "The Good, The Bad and The Wealthy" - The New...

Dechert LLP on

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 (the “Act”) represents a further significant development in the approach to the investigation and prosecution of financial crime in the UK1. The new offence of failure to prevent the...more

Hogan Lovells

Are you ready for the Criminal Finances Bill 2017?

Hogan Lovells on

In December 2016 we considered the changes proposed by the Criminal Finances Bill (the Bill) in "All change for money laundering regulation? - Impact for the private equity industry." On 27 April 2017, the Criminal Finances...more

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