Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

  • April 18, 2024

    SFO Vows To Be 'Bold And Pragmatic' Under New Strategy

    The Serious Fraud Office unveiled on Thursday its new five-year strategy focused on fraud prevention, the use of AI and greater use of covert intelligence, reflecting director Nick Ephgrave's intention for the agency to be more proactive and pragmatic.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ex-JPMorgan Analyst Liked 'Winding Up' Autonomy CEO, Jury Told

    A former JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Wednesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch said that he "took pleasure in winding up Lynch" and once even used a Hitler analogy to describe his performance, but said his critical coverage was never personal.

  • April 17, 2024

    Raid On Broker In Cum-Ex Fraud Case Was Lawful, Court Says

    A raid on the London office of commodity brokerage MCML Ltd. following a request from Danish prosecutors investigating an alleged £56 million ($70 million) tax fraud was lawful, a London court ruled Wednesday.

  • April 17, 2024

    Merchants Bring Modified Bid For Swipe Fee Class Actions

    A group of merchants urged Britain's competition tribunal on Wednesday to approve proposed class actions accusing Visa and Mastercard of unfairly imposing interchange fees on retailers for several years, arguing they had sufficiently addressed concerns that led to their initial proposals being rejected.

  • April 17, 2024

    Gazprom Unit Fights Ruling Blocking Russian UniCredit Claim

    A Gazprom joint venture told the U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday that appeal judges in England did not have jurisdiction to grant an anti-suit injunction blocking its €450 million ($480 million) claim in Russia against UniCredit Bank.

  • April 17, 2024

    Post Office Boss 'Exonerated' Over Bullying Allegations

    The U.K. Post Office said Wednesday that an investigation has "exonerated" its chief executive of bullying allegations after the probe emerged during a U.K. parliamentary hearing.

  • April 17, 2024

    Hugh Grant Settles Privacy Suit Against UK Tabloid Publisher

    Actor Hugh Grant has settled his claim against the U.K. arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire over alleged invasions of his privacy, according to London court filings made public Wednesday.

  • April 16, 2024

    Autonomy CEO Pressured JPMorgan Over Analyst, Jury Told

    An ex-JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Tuesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch told jurors that the software company founder responded with hostility when his research reports questioned its growth, and that Lynch offered JPMorgan millions in business if he were taken off the Autonomy beat.

  • April 16, 2024

    Cigna Denies Insurer's Claim For PPI Complaints Indemnity

    Cigna hit back at insurer PA (GI) Ltd.'s claim to recover its costs of dealing with missold payment protection insurance for healthcare cover, saying that it is not entitled to any compensation.

  • April 16, 2024

    Hill Dickinson Bolsters Disputes Team With New Partner

    Hill Dickinson LLP has snapped up a partner from Teacher Stern LLP to join its commercial litigation team, bringing a wealth of dispute resolution and crisis management experience to the table.

  • April 16, 2024

    Legal Experts Uneasy About Post Office Convictions Law

    Legal experts warned a parliamentary committee Tuesday that government plans to introduce legislation to quash the convictions of hundreds of Post Office branch managers could unintentionally set a precedent for other miscarriages of justice. 

  • April 16, 2024

    Ex-Post Office Boss Says Lawyers Ignored Prosecution Risks

    The Post Office's former chief executive said Tuesday that he was "surprised" that in-house lawyers who prosecuted sub-postmasters based on faulty IT data ignored the risk of failing to disclose certain key facts in court.

  • April 16, 2024

    EU Watchdogs Ally With ECB To Help Firms' Data Reporting

    European Union finance watchdogs said Tuesday they have set up an alliance with Europe's central bank to collaborate more efficiently on regulatory data transfers, reducing reporting costs for financial firms.

  • April 16, 2024

    Cooley Hires Ex-Norton Rose Antitrust Chief In London

    Cooley LLP has recruited Norton Rose Fulbright's London antitrust and competition chief to its London office as a partner in an effort to boost its ability to advise clients on competition disputes across the U.K. and the European Union.

  • April 15, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy Exec Testifies To Handshake Deals, Backdating

    Autonomy's former U.S. head of sales testified for the prosecution Monday in the criminal fraud trial of founder Michael Lynch, saying he boosted sales figures via "quid pro quo" handshake deals with customers, created pretextual emails to cover his tracks and even backdated a deal to meet revenue targets.

  • April 15, 2024

    Real Estate Plans Were £50M Ponzi Scheme, Investors Say

    Over 400 real estate investors said two British men ran a U.K.-wide fraud akin to a Ponzi scheme at a London trial of their £50 million ($62.3 million) claim Monday, arguing the men had made false promises about the returns the investments would generate.

  • April 15, 2024

    Broker Hit With £15M Claim Over Mexican Reinsurance Policies

    A Mexican reinsurance broker and one of its clients are suing a London-based broker for more than £14.8 million ($18.4 million), claiming that one of the U.K. company's agents faked documents for nonexistent reinsurance arrangements and pocketed the proceeds.

  • April 15, 2024

    SRA Accuses Lawyer Of Profiting From Client Loans

    A solicitor profited from his clients' financial difficulties by convincing them to enter into financial arrangements for his benefit, the Solicitors Regulation Authority told a tribunal Monday.

  • April 15, 2024

    AML Exec Loses Bid For Interim Pay In Whistleblowing Case

    The co-founder of a London-based payments platform provider has lost his bid to be paid his £190,000 ($237,000) salary while he pursues a whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claim against the company.

  • April 15, 2024

    Skat Kicks Off £1.4B London Trial Against British Trader

    A British trader was accused Monday of being the "mastermind" behind a fraudulent trading scheme that cost the Danish tax authority £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) at the start of a year-long High Court trial.

  • April 12, 2024

    Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Others Ink $3.5M Libor Deal

    Plaintiffs in the yearslong suit alleging various big banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, have reached a $3.45 million settlement with Credit Suisse AG, Lloyds Bank and others, bringing the total settlement recovery amount to more than $780 million.

  • April 12, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen footwear brand Dr. Martens hit online retailer Temu with a passing off claim, Welsh soccer club Swansea sue its former head coach Russell Martin, Russian diamond tycoon Dmitry Tsvetkov file a claim against his former business Equix Group Ltd., and U.S. bank Omega Financial Corporation hit African oil and gas company Tende Energy with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 12, 2024

    Abbott Loses Bid To Nix UK Whistleblowing Case On Appeal

    An appeals tribunal has rejected Abbott Laboratories' bid to escape a whistleblowing case brought by the founders of a British DNA technology business that it bought, concluding on Friday that the founders had an arguable case that U.K. judges had jurisdiction.

  • April 12, 2024

    Denmark's £1.4B Tax Fraud Trial Heads For 'Uncharted Waters'

    Denmark will open its £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) dividend fraud case in London on Monday, beginning a yearlong trial that will have wide implications for other disputes arising out of the cum-ex trading scandal that has swept Europe.

  • April 12, 2024

    Over 800 Directors Banned For COVID Loan Fraud In 1 Yr

    A total of 831 company directors were banned in the last 12 months for defrauding the COVID loan support scheme for businesses following investigations by the Insolvency Service, the government agency said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • How The UK Smart Regulatory Strategy Fuels AI Innovation

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    Eight months after the U.K. government published its artificial intelligence white paper, the Communications and Digital Lords Committee considered regulators' role regarding large language models, illustrating that the government is ramping up efforts toward solidifying the U.K.'s position as a global leader in AI regulation and development, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

  • How 'Copyleft' Licenses May Affect Generative AI Output

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    Open-source software and the copyleft licenses that support it, whereby derivative works must be made available for others to use and modify, have been a boon to the development of artificial intelligence, but could lead to issues for coders who use AI to help write code and may find their resulting work exposed, says William Dearn at HLK.

  • Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach

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    An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • How New Loan Origination Regime Will Affect Fund Managers

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    Although the recent publication of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive II represents more of an evolution than a revolution, the leverage limitations applicable to loan-originating funds are likely to present practical challenges for European credit fund managers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • How EU Sustainability Directive Will Improve Co. Reporting

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    The need for organizations to make nonfinancial disclosures under the recently adopted EU Sustainability Reporting Standards will significantly change workforce and human rights reporting, and with the objective of fostering transparency, should bring about an increased focus on risks, policies and action plans, say Philip Spyropoulos and Thomas Player at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms

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    The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.

  • Extradition Ruling Hints At Ways Around High Burden Of Proof

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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?

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    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.

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