Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Corporate Crime & Compliance UK
-
May 24, 2024
Ex-Post Office Boss Blames Scandal On Bad Legal Advice
Paula Vennells blamed the advice of her senior lawyers for not becoming aware of the wrongful prosecutions by the Post Office of innocent people based on faulty IT data, as she gave evidence to the inquiry into the scandal Friday.
-
May 24, 2024
PE Firm, Pharma Cos. Overturn £31M Drug Price-Fixing Fines
Private equity group Cinven and three pharmaceutical companies have successfully overturned a decision by the U.K. antitrust regulator to fine them £31 million ($39 million) for allegedly fixing the price of drugs sold to the National Health Service.
-
May 24, 2024
Woman Imprisoned For Laundering From $5B Bitcoin Fraud
A British-Chinese woman was imprisoned for more than six years on Friday at a London court for laundering bitcoin converted from an alleged £5 billion ($6.3 billion) investment fraud.
-
May 24, 2024
Plans To Cut Crown Court Backlog 'Can't Be Achieved'
Proposals to cut the Crown Court backlog to 53,000 cases by March 2025 are no longer attainable as the number has ballooned to the highest level ever recorded, a damning report by the public sector spending watchdog revealed on Friday.
-
May 23, 2024
EU Fines Mondelez €338M For Curbing Snack Competition
The European Commission on Thursday fined U.S.-headquartered multinational snack company Mondelez International Inc. €337.5 million ($365.74 million) for entering into anticompetitive trade agreements with resellers and abusing its position as a chocolate giant to maintain high prices.
-
May 23, 2024
Ex-Post Office Boss Told Reviewing Cases Would Be Bad PR
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells denied that avoiding becoming "front page news" influenced her decision to limit a review of past convictions based on faulty IT data in her evidence to the inquiry into the Post Office scandal on Thursday.
-
May 23, 2024
Insurer Warns Of Surge In 'Crash For Cash' Fraud
Insurer Allianz UK has urged motorists to watch out for dangerous scams, as it warned of a 6,250% rise in 2023 of "crashes" involving motorbikes and scooters.
-
May 23, 2024
Investec Sets Aside £30M For FCA Motor Finance Review
Investec PLC has put aside £30 million ($38 million) as the banking group faces the Financial Conduct Authority's industry-wide motor finance review, according to the company's report for financial year 2024 published Thursday.
-
May 23, 2024
Trader Denies Using 'Magic Money Tree' At £1.4B Fraud Trial
Sanjay Shah, a former hedge fund owner who is accused of defrauding Denmark's tax authority out of £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion), denied using a "magic money tree" in his trading at a London court Thursday.
-
May 23, 2024
Struck-Off Lawyer Loses Bid To Challenge Contempt Sentence
A struck-off solicitor lost her attempt on Thursday to get a second shot at reviving her appeal against a prison sentence for contempt of court as the appeals court found that she had failed to argue that she had been medically unfit to argue at her first appeal.
-
May 23, 2024
Tech Resilience Regime Ambiguous, European Banks Say
A trade body representing banks in Europe warned on Thursday that new regulations requiring finance firms to prevent risks arising from cyberattack or systems failure are ambiguous and could create differing approaches to compliance.
-
May 23, 2024
FCA Fines HSBC £6.2M For Mistreating Customers In Arrears
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday that it has fined HSBC £6.2 million ($7.9 million) for inadequate treatment of customers in financial difficulty.
-
May 23, 2024
Tory Donor Charged In UK With Bribing Foreign Official
An entrepreneur and political donor appeared at a London court on Thursday charged with bribing a public official in the Caribbean to secure contracts for his solar power company, the National Crime Agency said.
-
May 23, 2024
UK Antitrust Watchdog To Investigate Veterinary Market
The antitrust regulator said on Thursday it had launched a full investigation into the veterinary sector, after it had provisionally raised concerns about poor competition in pricing and access to medicine for pets.
-
May 22, 2024
Assange Appeal May Put US Constitution In UK Crosshairs
Julian Assange's latest appeal, in which he claims he would be denied free speech protection if he is put on trial in the U.S., could break new ground in extradition cases and end up having to be decided by Britain's highest court, legal experts say.
-
May 22, 2024
Property Transfer For Tax Break Not Dishonest, UK Court Says
Two liquidated London real estate companies failed to convince the United Kingdom Court of Appeal that their former director behaved dishonestly by transferring their holdings to Jersey trusts for less than market value to obtain a tax advantage, according to a judgment released Wednesday.
-
May 22, 2024
DLA Piper Beefs Up White Collar Bench With Former SFO Atty
After leaving her government post in March, one of the most senior officials at the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office, Judy Krieg, has found a home at DLA Piper LLP as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office, the firm announced Wednesday.
-
May 22, 2024
Solicitor Fails To Nix Fake-Employee Fraud Conviction
A solicitor on Wednesday lost her bid to overturn her conviction for pocketing the salary of a fake employee, with a London appellate court ruling her conviction was not unsafe after the solicitor's counsel had argued the trial judge failed warn the jury a witness' evidence should be handled cautiously.
-
May 22, 2024
Ex-Goldman Banker Gets Contempt Sentence Suspended
A London appellate court on Wednesday chose "the road of mercy rather than justice" and suspended a prison sentence for a former Goldman Sachs banker who breached court orders to hand over information concerning the financial assets of the wife of an imprisoned Turkish politician.
-
May 22, 2024
Hilco Exec Wins £296K After Being Sacked For Whistleblowing
A tribunal has awarded a former Hilco Capital Ltd. HR director almost £296,000 ($377,000) in compensation after she was unfairly sacked for blowing the whistle over alleged banking irregularities.
-
May 22, 2024
UK Gov't Calls Elections For July 4 Despite Poor Polls
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called an early general election to be held on July 4, advancing the electoral timetable even though his Conservative Party lags decisively behind the opposition Labour Party.
-
May 22, 2024
City Group Warns Financial Fraud Still Major Problem
A City trade body for financial institutions said Tuesday that payment fraud remains a major problem, with criminals stealing more than £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in 2023, shifting into growth areas such as mobile banking.
-
May 22, 2024
Ex-Post Office Boss Didn't Know Business Prosecuted People
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells denied on Wednesday that she knew the organization conducted its own prosecutions, telling the inquiry into its wrongful prosecution of innocent sub-postmasters she became aware of the power to prosecute only several years after she joined.
-
May 22, 2024
Swiss Gov't Adopts Proposals For Tougher AML Laws
Switzerland on Wednesday approved a new anti-money laundering framework that will introduce a register in which companies and other legal entities in the country will have to disclose information on their beneficial owners in a major shift in its anti-money laundering rules.
-
May 22, 2024
Chinese Woman Faces Oct. Criminal Crypto Possession Trial
A Chinese woman and her alleged accomplice are scheduled to stand trial in London in October, charged with criminal possession and transfer of cryptocurrency, a judge said Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
-
Extradition Ruling Hints At Ways Around High Burden Of Proof
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Popoviciu v. Curtea De Apel Bucharest confirmed that, in a conviction extradition case, the requested person must establish a flagrant violation of their right to a fair trial, but the court's reasoning reveals creative opportunities to test this boundary in the U.K. and Strasbourg alike, says Rebecca Hughes at Corker Binning.
-
What Lawyers Can Learn From FDI Screening Report Findings
The recent European Commission report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU reveals how member states need to balance national security concerns with openness, and with more cross-border transactions subject to screening, lawyers must be alert to jurisdictional variances, says Jonathon Gunn at Faegre Drinker.
-
Why Law Firms Should Heed Calls To Put ESG Over Profit
According to Deloitte’s recent survey, the majority of Gen Z and millennials remain unimpressed with businesses’ societal impact, and junior lawyers in particular are increasingly expecting the legal profession to shift to a business model that prioritizes sustainability above profitability, says Dana Denis-Smith at Obelisk Support.
-
UK Review May Lead To Lower Investment Screening Burden
The government’s current review of national security investment screening rules aims to refine the scope of mandatory notifications required for unproblematic deals, and is likely to result in much-needed modifications to minimize the administrative burden on businesses and investors, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.
-
What Prince Harry Privacy Case May Mean For Media Ethics
An English High Court recently allowed the privacy case brought by Prince Harry and six other claimants against the Daily Mail publisher to proceed, which, if successful, could embolden other high-profile individuals to bring claims and lead to renewed calls for a judicial public inquiry into British press ethics, says Philippa Dempster at Freeths.
-
Economic Crime Act Exposure: What Companies Can Expect
The intention of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act is to make it easier to attribute criminal liability to companies if a senior manager has committed an offense, but the impact on corporate criminal convictions depends on who qualifies as a senior manager and the evidential challenges in showing it, say Hayley Ichilcik and Julius Handler at MoFo.
-
How European Authorities Are Foiling Anti-Competitive Hiring
Lawyers at Squire Patton discuss key labor practice antitrust concerns and notable regulation trends in several European countries following recent enforcement actions brought by the European Commission and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority.
-
FCA Promotions Review Sends A Strong Message To Firms
The recent FCA review into firms' compliance with the rules on promoting high-risk investments to retail clients clarifies that it expects the letter and the spirit of the rules to be followed, and given the interplay with the consumer duty, there are wider implications at stake, say Marina Reason and Chris Hurn at Herbert Smith.
-
When Can Bonuses Be Clawed Back?
The High Court's recent decision in Steel v. Spencer should remind employees that the contractual conditions surrounding bonuses and the timing of any resignation must be carefully considered, as in certain circumstances, bonuses can and are being successfully clawed back by employers, say Merrill April and Rachael Parker at CM Murray.
-
The State Of UK Litigation Funding After Therium Ruling
The recent English High Court decision in Therium v. Bugsby Property has provided a glimmer of hope for litigation funders about how courts will interpret this summer's U.K. Supreme Court ruling that called funding agreements impermissible, suggesting that its adverse effects may be mitigated, says Daniel Williams at DWF Law.
-
UK Shareholding Report A Missed Opportunity For New Tech
The recommendations in the U.K. Digitization Taskforce's recent report on digitizing and improving the U.K. shareholding framework are moderate but not revolutionary, and its failure to recommend digital ledger technology will impede a full transformation of the system, say Tom Bacon and Andrew Tsang at BCLP.
-
What Lawyers Need To Know About The UK Online Safety Act
The recently passed U.K. Online Safety Act requires regulated providers to take action to assess and mitigate user risks, and counsel for these companies should take advantage of Ofcom’s clear desire to have a collaborative relationship and improve governance, say Rachael Annear and Tristan Lockwood at Freshfields.
-
Trial By AI Could Be Closer Than You Think
In a known first for the U.K., a Court of Appeal justice recently admitted to using ChatGPT to write part of a judgment, highlighting how AI could make the legal system more efficient and enable the judicial process to record more accurate and fair decisions, say Charles Kuhn and Neide Lemos at Clyde & Co.
-
Employer Considerations After Visa And Application Fee Hikes
The U.K.'s recent visa and application fee increases are having a significant financial impact on businesses, and may heighten the risk of hiring discrimination, so companies should carefully reconsider their budgets accordingly, says Adam Sinfield at Osborne Clarke.
-
Why It's Urgent For Pharma Cos. To Halt Counterfeit Meds
With over 10.5 million counterfeit medicines seized in the EU in 2023, it is vital both ethically and commercially that pharmaceutical companies take steps to protect against such infringements, including by invoking intellectual property rights protection, says Lars Karnøe at Potter Clarkson.