On 6 July 2020, the UK adopted its first autonomous sanctions regime, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on 47 individuals and two entities across the world accused of serious human rights violations. The new regime marks...more
The UK sanctions authority, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), has announced its first multi million pound fine since its establishment in 2016. The fine confirms OFSI’s increasing enforcement activity...more
The approach of the Serious Fraud Office (the “SFO”) to compelled interviews is a longstanding source of frustration for criminal defence lawyers. The beginning of Lisa Osofsky’s tenure as Director and the introduction of...more
11/21/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Justice Act ,
Fraud ,
Interviews ,
Legal Professional Privilege ,
Legal Representatives ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privileged Documents ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK
Is there a point at which co-operation becomes capitulation? Is there a danger inherent in co-operating without the guarantee of a favourable outcome for doing so?...more
Many will be aware of Agatha Christie's popular and much-adapted tale involving a witness for the prosecution whose evidence is undermined. But, in the real world, last month we saw the latest discrediting of an expert...more
An informant is sent into the midst of a criminal gang. He is wearing a concealed device, crudely taped to his chest. Law enforcement agents listen in from the back of an unmarked van parked inconspicuously nearby hoping to...more
6/14/2019
/ Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) ,
Criminal Investigations ,
European Convention on Human Rights ,
Evidence ,
Immunity ,
Informants ,
Organized Crime ,
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) ,
Sentence Reduction ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wiretapping
On May 8, 2019, following Iran's announcement that it intends to suspend certain nuclear proliferation-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States issued a new Executive order...more
5/14/2019
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Blocking Statutes ,
CAPTA List ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
France ,
Germany ,
IFCA ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Metals ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Steel Industry ,
Suspensions ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Waivers
Five years ago, in the spring of 2014, Deferred Prosecution Agreements ('DPAs') were first introduced in the UK through the Crime and Courts Act 2013 ('CCA').1 Since then, the Serious Fraud Office ('SFO') has concluded four...more
5/11/2019
/ Conspiracies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Immunity ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) ,
Shareholder Rights ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
UK Criminal Finances Act 2017
With Brexit looming, the UK's autonomous sanctions policy is slowly taking shape. This month saw the publication of regulations setting out the post-Brexit UK sanctions regimes for Iran, Burma and Venezuela, which will come...more
3/4/2019
/ Asset Freeze ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Burma ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
General Licenses ,
Information Sharing ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Ownership Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Right to Control ,
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Venezuela
In the likely scenario of a "no-deal" Brexit, the UK's extradition arrangements will be going 'Back to the Future'. The UK will cease its participation in the European Arrest Warrant ("EAW") regime and revert to the 1959...more
On 31 January 2019, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the "E3") announced the registration in France of INSTEX SAS ("Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges"), which is a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating...more
2/14/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Blocking Statutes ,
EU ,
FATF ,
France ,
Germany ,
INSTEX ,
International Atomic Energy Agency ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Special Purpose Vehicles ,
UK ,
United Nations
On 6th December 2018, the trial of two Tesco executives accused of false accounting collapsed. The judge concluded that the SFO's evidence, taken at its highest, was such that a jury could not properly convict. The SFO...more
2/4/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Acquittals ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Executives ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Failure to Prevent ,
Jury Trial ,
Lack of Evidence ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
SFO ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
UK Criminal Finances Act 2017
On 21 January 2019, the EU adopted the first sanctions measures under its new sanctions framework targeting parties involved in the use and proliferation of chemical weapons introduced in October 2018...more