The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill 2022, which is expected to become law in the near future sets out measures to strengthen financial crime prevention and enforcement in the UK. It follows hot on the heels of earlier legislation targeting the identification and registration of overseas entities holding property in this jurisdiction, and […]
Following ratification by the US Congress, the Data Access Agreement between the US and the UK under the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act will enter into force on 3 October 2022, three years after it was originally signed. Under the agreement, investigators in each country will be able to obtain electronic data […]
Fraud is increasing beyond domestic borders and the need for cooperation between jurisdictions in pursuing the proceeds of financial wrongdoing has never been so acute. Recent developments internationally, notably in the United States, seem to reduce the tools of collaboration available. However, the position in our own jurisdiction is lacking in this regard and in […]
Max Hill QC, director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, and Lisa Osofsky, director of the Serious Fraud Office, recently put their support behind extending the ‘failure to prevent’ (FTP) model from current bribery and tax offences to further encompass fraud, reviving a decades-long debate around how far corporates should be responsible for the […]
Peter FitzGerald and Amalia Neenan have penned an article for The Law Society Gazette on the recent decision by a Swiss court to acquit the former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, and UEFA’s former president, Michel Platini, following an allegation that a 2011 payment of 2.2 million Swiss francs from FIFA to Platini – which […]
Anna Bradshaw and Alistair Jones were quoted in the September 2022 issue of WorldECR, commenting on a case at Ireland’s High Court involving Cypriot companies wanting to purchase marine vessels that they had leased from a Dublin-registered firm allegedly owned by Russia. Anna told the publication that the case is a good illustration of the […]
In 2018, the City of London Police (CoLP) obtained account freezing orders (AFOs) over our clients’ business and personal accounts. Our clients, and their UK-incorporated company, had unwittingly become embroiled in a large-scale money laundering investigation, involving a complex web of UK bank accounts held by overseas nationals. From early in our instruction, we asserted […]
In July, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an inquiry into ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda to investigate potentially misleading ‘green’ claims by the three fashion brands. The watchdog is concerned that some of the firms’ fashion products are being marketed as being eco-friendly and sustainable, even though the businesses may […]
In July 2022, a Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) found former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini not guilty, following charges of corruption brought against them by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG). The fraud trial centred around an allegedly unlawful payment of about CHF 2 million made […]
With more businesses using sustainability as a marketing tool, in a bid to attract environmentally aware consumers or to secure investment in environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related funds, it was only a matter of time before “green” or “eco-friendly” claims would attract the regulators’ attention. In July 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority […]
