We asked our global white collar crime team for their views on the key challenges in 2024 for in‑house investigations teams and white collar crime lawyers, and how to manage the associated risks. Here is what they said....more
1/26/2024
/ Analytics ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Causation ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Confidential Documents ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
EU ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Internal Investigations ,
Investigations ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Money Laundering ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
New Rules ,
NGOs ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The new failure to prevent fraud offence and new ‘senior manager’ attribution test for corporate criminal liability contained in the Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023 are relevant to private equity firms for two key...more
2023 saw a raft of UK law reforms concerning economic crime and continued scrutiny of business risk concerning human rights and greenwashing. This is reflected in the blogs our subscribers were most interested in reading in...more
1/11/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Criminal Liability ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Human Rights ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
UK
The UK government is already proposing further expansion to the basis on which companies can be fixed with criminal liability.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), passed in October, significantly...more
12/6/2023
/ Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Criminal Liability ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
UK
The new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the Act) is the latest step in the UK Government’s attempts to address economic crime and improve transparency over corporate entities. Whilst most of the key...more
10/30/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Entities ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
As part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, there are two new 'pay-away' exceptions to the need for a firm in the regulated sector to file a Defence against Money Laundering -
Previously a firm in...more
10/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Authority ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
Where a criminal offence requires proof of a specific mental state, or ‘mens rea’ (such as intent, recklessness or dishonesty), previously a company could only be found guilty if an individual who represented the company’s...more
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 was granted Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It contains a new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ corporate criminal offence which will render large companies liable for fraud...more
10/26/2023
/ Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Prevent ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Investigations ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
White Collar Crimes
The UK Government is expanding the scope of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) power to compel individuals and companies to provide information before a formal SFO investigation is commenced. Currently the power can only be...more
A draft ‘failure to prevent fraud’ corporate criminal offence will render large companies liable for fraud committed by their associates. We consider the draft offence and implications for businesses....more
9/13/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Corporate Officers ,
Criminal Liability ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Failure to Prevent ,
Fraud ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Shareholders ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
UK Corporate Criminal Offense ,
White Collar Crimes
A draft ‘failure to prevent fraud’ corporate criminal offence will render large companies liable for fraud committed by their associates. We consider the draft offence and implications for businesses....more
9/6/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Corporate Officers ,
Criminal Liability ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Failure to Prevent ,
Fraud ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Shareholders ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
UK Corporate Criminal Offense ,
White Collar Crimes
Last Thursday, the government publicised its intention to use the Economic Crime Bill to significantly expand corporate criminal liability through reform of the ‘identification doctrine’. This is the English law rule on how...more
The UK Government has published a draft ‘failure to prevent fraud’ corporate criminal offence rendering large companies liable for fraud committed by their associates. We consider the draft offence and implications for...more
Following an intense and lengthy period of speculation, on 8 February 2023 the UK Government confirmed the introduction of a new “failure to prevent” corporate criminal offence. The new offence will be introduced by way of...more
In the House of Lords yesterday evening the Government confirmed that it intends to propose a new ‘failure to prevent’ corporate criminal offence to be inserted into the Economic Crime Bill. We consider the backdrop to this...more
We asked our global white collar crime team for their views on key challenges in 2023 for in‑house investigations teams and white collar crime lawyers, and how to manage the associated risks. Here are their top ten....more
2022 saw a big shift in the geo-political climate and a bedding in of the new hybrid working world. These two developments are reflected in the blogs our subscribers were most interested in reading. Readers remain focused on...more
1/10/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Money Laundering ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Russia ,
Senior Management Regime (SMR) ,
SMCR ,
UK ,
Ukraine
A UK company that organises wine and spirits competitions has been fined by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) for breaching UK financial sanctions....more
As part of its crackdown on dirty money, the UK Government has published a second Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The 250 page Bill covers a wide range of proposed reforms. This post focusses on the proposed...more
The UK sanctions enforcement regime becomes tougher today due to changes made by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 coming into force....more
Last Friday the UK Law Commission published its long awaited ‘options paper’ on corporate criminal liability reform. While the lengthy report (and criticisms already being directed at it) will need to be digested further, we...more
The UK sanctions imposed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have undoubtedly put intense pressure on businesses to review existing commercial arrangements and tighten sanctions compliance systems and controls. But...more
The long-awaited Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act received royal assent this morning, after having been fast tracked through the UK Parliament. Here are the key reforms of relevance to businesses....more
The long-awaited Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill (Bill) is being fast tracked through the UK Parliament. Here are the key reforms of relevance to businesses. ...more
We asked our global white collar crime team for their views on key challenges in 2022 for in house investigations teams and white collar crime lawyers, and how to manage the associated risks. Here are the top ten....more