The UK Supreme Court in RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV has unanimously held that, as a general point of principle, parties to a contract cannot be prevented from relying on a force majeure clause if they refuse to accept...more
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) published its strategy for 2024–2029 on 18 April 2024, outlining its ambitious plans to become the “pre-eminent specialist, innovative and collaborative agency” in the fight against serious...more
The UK government has issued an updated Open General Export Licence for the Export of Dual-Use items to EU Member States (which also previously covered exports to Iceland and the Channel Islands) (the “OGEL”) to allow export...more
2023 was another significant year for UK sanctions. The UK government has continued to implement new sanctions against Russia in response to its illegal war in Ukraine, including through new designations, broadened financial...more
3/29/2024
/ Divestment ,
ECJU ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Export Controls ,
Iran Sanctions ,
National Crime Agency (NCA) ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil Prices ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
The UK has expanded its export controls regime to include a number of key emerging technologies, including in relation to semiconductors and quantum technology. These changes take effect on 1 April 2024, following which an...more
The UK government has announced the creation of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) to further crack down on those dodging UK trade sanctions. OTSI will be responsible for the civil enforcement of trade...more
On 13 July 2022, the National Economic Crime Centre, a multi-agency unit in the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, working in conjunction with law enforcement and financial...more
As the world watches in horror as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, the UK, as well as its allies and partners, has introduced a number of sanctions and trade restrictions in response. In this Quarterly...more
4/28/2022
/ Bribery ,
Central Bank of Russia ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NCSC ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its second month, with regular reports of human rights violations, possible chemical weapons attacks, and head of state musings regarding whether this campaign amounts...more
4/18/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Japan ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine stretches on into its second month, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and other global allies have continued to pour additional funding and arms into Ukraine while...more
3/23/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Funding ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
US Department of State
This year saw the UK grapple with life after Brexit and, along with the rest of the world, the impact of the continued COVID-19 pandemic. As 2021 draws to a close, we round up the key events and developments from the year in...more
12/21/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Arbitration ,
Bribery ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DPA ,
Duty of Care ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Google ,
Hague Convention ,
Human Rights ,
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,
Opt-Outs ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
Tribunals ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Supreme Court
In the final Quarterly Review of 2021, we reflect on a year that has seen the UK acclimatise to life outside of the EU, whilst, like the rest of the world, contending with the difficulties brought on by the global coronavirus...more
12/15/2021
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Bribery ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Sanctions ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On 14 October 2021, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published its annual review for the financial year 2020-2021 (the “Annual Review”). Under the leadership of its new Director, Giles Thomson,...more
In our Quarterly Review, we bring you important UK developments relating to business crime, investigations and regulatory enforcement from the last three months.
We commented last month that the scale of the impact of the...more
9/24/2020
/ Airbus ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
DPA ,
Enforcement ,
Espionage ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime ,
HMRC ,
Investigations ,
Money Laundering ,
National Economic Crime Center (NECC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Sanctions ,
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK
In our Quarterly Review, we bring you important UK developments relating to Business Crime, Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement from the last three months. Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of these...more
6/23/2020
/ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
NCAs ,
NCSC ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Popular ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK ,
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs)
On 17 January 2020, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (the “SFO”) released guidance on evaluating compliance programmes (the “SFO Guidance”). This is the first time the SFO has issued guidance on how it will assess the...more
On 10 January 2020, updates to the UK anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (together “AML”) laws come into force that bring the UK in line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force...more
In an interesting May 2019 judgment, the English High Court in P v. D [2019] EWHC 1277 (Comm) set aside an arbitral award in a London-seated international commercial arbitration on the basis that the tribunal had based its...more
In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important international anti-corruption developments in the past month, with links to primary...more
3/20/2019
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sweden ,
UK ,
Venezuela ,
Whistleblowers