After several years of discussion and consultation, the UK Government now appears to be close to reforming the law on corporate criminal liability via the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. These changes, if...more
The government published in May 2019 its responses to two Committee reports on financial crime. First, the House of Commons Treasury Committee on 8 March 2019, published its report on “Economic Crime – Anti-money laundering...more
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
Corruption Watch UK has claimed that “a company committing economic crime in the US is far more likely to be hit with criminal, civil and regulatory penalties than one in the UK.” In a hard-hitting report published on 5 March...more
The British Parliament has recently published two important post-legislative assessments of the effectiveness of the UK’s financial crime legislative framework, as well as an insight into future areas of focus....more
Following mounting calls for reform of the UK's corporate criminal liability regime, the Government is expected to consult later this year on potential reforms, which are likely to include a new corporate offence of failing...more
Tech companies of U.S. origin tend to have compliance programs focused on U.S. laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA") and relevant tax and labor laws. The UK has enacted laws covering bribery and...more
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
Despite a year of continued global political uncertainty and increasing enforcement, shareholder activism and foreign investment control activity, the 2018 outlook for Europe is positive overall. Skadden partners in the U.K.,...more
Introduction - As part of a global crackdown on tax evasion, the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (the Act) introduced a new offence. From 30 September 2017, an organisation commits a criminal offence if an employee or...more
The law and practice relating to financial crime and investigations is evolving fast. In the past 18 months we have seen two new Acts aimed at combatting financial crime (including the creation of two new corporate criminal...more