Having spent years looking with envy at the US, where ‘plea deals’ are commonly used, UK enforcement agencies finally got a similar weapon in their armoury in 2014, with the introduction of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). However, since the first one was approved in late 2015, only 13 DPAs have been concluded. The Law Society […]
Fraud now accounts for 40% of all crime and, in May, the government published its national fraud strategy – the latest official document attempting to address this epidemic. The ambition is for fraud to be reduced by 10% by December 2024 on 2019 levels, by “tackling fraudsters head on, protecting the British people’s hard-earned cash […]
According to recent research by financial claims management company Refundee, scams involving cryptocurrency are on the rise. Charlotte Tregunna spoke to City A.M. about the rise in crypto fraud, commenting that this was “inevitable”, since scams are prevalent in traditional finance. The types of scams invented by scammers are also increasingly imaginative, with new and […]
Last week, the Home Office tabled an amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, setting out a failure to prevent fraud offence. According to the Home Office, this new offence is meant to “make it easier to prosecute a large organisation if an employee commits fraud for the organisation’s benefit” and “allow prosecutors […]
A few weeks ago, Eugene Shvidler, a billionaire who has been associated with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, launched the first legal challenge to reach the London courts to the UK’s Russian sanctions regime. Shvidler is arguing that the Foreign Office made “significant errors” in deciding to freeze his assets. He also challenges that he is […]
In February, three French NGOs, Friends of the Earth France, Notre Affaire à Tous and Oxfam France, launched proceedings in France against BNP Paribas, Europe’s largest bank, in connection with its financing of fossil fuel polluters and thus failing to comply with its obligations under the French corporate duty of vigilance law, which came into […]
In the Spring of 2020, Eleanor Williams, a young girl from Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, published pictures on social media of her alleged injuries, claiming she had been the victim of an Asian grooming gang. The allegations sent shockwaves through her community, even leading to social unrest and incidents of hate crime. However, Police investigations showed […]
Three French NGOs – Oxfam France, Friends of the Earth France and Notre Affaire à Tous – are bringing proceedings in France against BNP Parisbas, one of Europe’s largest financial institutions, in connection with its financing of fossil fuel polluters. The trio is arguing that the bank is failing to comply with its obligations under […]
Earlier this week, HM Treasury released proposals that would mean that parts of the crypto sector has to follow rules that currently apply to financial institutions, and would include the Financial Conduct Authority having greater oversight of the sector. Across the Channel, the EU is already making great strides in the competition between jurisdictions to […]
The government has confirmed its intention to bring forward a failure to prevent fraud offence in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, when the latter is debated in the House of Lords. Neil Swift spoke to LexisPSL about the proposal, asking, among others, whether failure to prevent offences, and the underlying policy of making […]
