Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

Close-up image of the back of a car emitted exhaust fumes.

Carmakers Gear Up For Once-In-A-Generation Dieselgate Trial

One of the biggest and most complex group claim trials ever seen in the High Court will open Monday as more than a million motorists try to prove that major car manufacturers equipped their vehicles with devices designed to cheat emissions rules.

View of the wheels of a row of cars lined up.

Senior Managers At Risk In FCA's £8B Motor Finance Plan

The Financial Conduct Authority's proposed £8.2 billion ($11 billion) car finance redress scheme would force senior managers of lenders to put their heads on the block by attesting that they have adequate systems to identify customers for compensation, with wrong decisions risking enforcement action by the regulator, lawyers have warned.

bitcoin symbol atop a stack of gold coins

UK Crypto Seizure Tees Up £5.5B Legal Battle With China

The record capture by British police of £5.5 billion ($7.4 billion) in cryptocurrency from a convicted money launderer has set up a mammoth legal showdown between the U.K. and defrauded investors, who say the money should be returned to victims in China.

FCA's Crypto Rules Risk Abuse Without Tailored Safeguards

The proposed U.K. crypto-asset regime risks abuse because it tries to clamp traditional finance rules on to a digital asset class, leaving gaps which expose unwary investors to criminals unless new safeguards are added, legal experts have warned.

October 10, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen Paddington Bear's creators and Studio Canal sue the company behind Spitting Image, Blackpool Football Club's former owner Owen Oyston bring a fresh claim against the club, and Mishcon de Reya sue a Saudi investment group.
October 10, 2025
Google Trims Price Comparison Site's Competition Claim

Google pared down a price-comparison website company's claim that accused it of abusing its dominant market position at a London tribunal Friday, after the tech giant argued that it has a "cast iron" defense against it.
October 10, 2025
Think Tank Urges Reeves To Break Tax Pledge In Budget Plan

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves should raise income tax in the coming autumn budget to match spending commitments and reduce the deficit, a think tank said Friday.
October 10, 2025
Kennedys' Rekha Cooke On The FCA Senior Managers Regime

Rekha Cooke, a partner at Kennedys, talks about the Financial Conduct Authority's reforms of the senior managers regime, telling Law360 that businesses should treat the reforms as a reason to strengthen their internal controls.
October 10, 2025
Standards Setter FSB Issues Warning On AI Monitoring Gaps

National regulators must improve their monitoring of the adoption of artificial intelligence in the financial sector, a global standards setter urged on Friday, as unchecked exposure to the technology might expose critical vulnerabilities.
October 10, 2025
Agent Blames Law Firm For Bungled £1.1M Property Sale

An agent has blamed a law firm for a bungled £1.1 million ($1.5 million) real estate deal that ended with the lawyers settling a negligence case, as she denied allegations that she intentionally tried to sell a property she did not have the rights to.
October 10, 2025
Glazing Firm Boss Avoids Prison For COVID Loan Fraud

A court has handed a 22-month suspended prison sentence to a businessman who fraudulently obtained two loans from the state-backed COVID-19 pandemic-era bounce-back scheme and used the proceeds for gambling and cryptocurrency investments, the Insolvency Service has said.
October 09, 2025
FCA Outlines Next Steps To Stop Financial Crime At AGM

The Financial Conduct Authority outlined its next steps to prevent financial crime at its annual general meeting on Thursday, including further investment in its data-related technology and demands for higher level anti-fraud measures from tech giants such as Meta.
October 09, 2025
Clearview AI's £7.5M GDPR Fine Faces Renewed Scrutiny

A London tribunal has decided that a lower court was wrong to find that the U.K.'s data protection regulator lacked the power to fine Clearview AI Inc. £7.5 million ($10 million) over its collection of images of U.K. citizens from social media without their knowledge.
October 09, 2025
Hip-Hop DJ Tim Westwood Charged With Rape, Sexual Assault

The Crown Prosecution Service said Thursday that it had approved 15 charges of sexual offenses against U.K. hip-hop DJ and broadcaster Tim Westwood spanning over three decades and involving seven women.
October 09, 2025
Dutch Gov't Summons Fund Suspected Of €200M Tax Evasion

Dutch prosecutors have summoned a foreign pension fund that they suspect evaded €200 million ($231 million) in taxes on dividends through fraudulent refund claims, the government said Thursday.
October 09, 2025
BAE Suppliers Deny Selling Faulty Parts In £11.5M M&A Row

The former owners of an aerospace component maker that supplied BAE Systems has denied knowingly selling faulty parts as it fights the new owner's claim for an £11.5 million ($15.3 million) refund after an acquisition.
October 09, 2025
Richard Desmond Wants £1.3B Over National Lottery Award

A group owned by former publishing magnate Richard Desmond alleged Thursday at the trial over its £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) claim that the U.K. gambling regulator had made "manifest errors" in the process of awarding the National Lottery license.
October 09, 2025
Banks Warn Of Extra Hit Over Car Loan Finance Scandal

Lloyds and Close Brothers both warned on Thursday that they are reviewing whether they need to allocate extra cash to compensate U.K. motor finance customers, days after the City watchdog disclosed a planned redress program for the mis-selling scandal.
October 08, 2025
Tobacco Co. Made Timely Tax Refund Claims, UK Court Rules

A British tobacco company didn't wait too long to seek repayment of taxes it mistakenly paid on foreign dividends, a U.K. appeals court ruled Wednesday, rejecting HM Revenue & Customs' contention that the claims were time-barred.
October 08, 2025
CPS Has Immunity Over Victim Address Leak In Court

A London appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Crown Prosecution Service is immune from a claim by a domestic abuse victim after its advocate inadvertently revealed the victim's new address to her abusive ex-partner in court.
October 08, 2025
Tech Biz Says Former Exec Lied About CEO's Links To Russia

A technology company has accused a former executive in a London court of targeting its CEO with a smear campaign about his alleged ties to Russian special services and organized crime networks.
October 08, 2025
'Finfluencers' Have To Wait Until 2027 For Trial

Three men charged with advertising unauthorized investment opportunities in foreign exchange markets on social media will have to wait at least until late 2027 for their trials, a London judge said Wednesday.
October 08, 2025
Christie's Denies Hiding Picasso Crime Links In £14.5M Case

Christie's auction house has denied concealing the fact that a Picasso had been owned by a drug trafficker when it persuaded an art collector to bid £14.5 million ($19.5 million) for the painting.
October 08, 2025
Ex-Yellow Pages CFO Wins Costs In Baseless £1B Fraud Case

A London court has ruled that the former finance chief of Yellow Pages should have his costs covered in both criminal and review proceedings stemming from a private prosecutor's unfounded allegations that the boss oversaw a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) fraud.
October 08, 2025
Top Prosecutor Blames Gov't For Collapse Of China Spy Trial

Prosecutors dropped criminal charges against two men accused of spying for China because the government did not offer evidence that Beijing was a national security threat, according to the U.K.'s top prosecutor.
October 07, 2025
Wine Co. Exec Cops To Wire Fraud Conspiracy In $99M Scam

A United Kingdom wine company executive pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in New York federal court Tuesday in a criminal case accusing him of scamming investors out of $99 million after persuading them to make loans using wine collections as collateral.
October 07, 2025
Ex-IT Exec Sues His Lawyers After Losing Hacking Case

A former chief technology officer has sued the law firm that represented him in civil proceedings against his ex-employer following his conviction for hacking their computer systems, accusing the law firm of breaching its duties by refusing to pursue an appeal argument.
October 07, 2025
FCA Says Lenders Will Pay Out £8B For Motor Finance Scandal

The Financial Conduct Authority released a proposed industry-wide program under consultation on Tuesday to compensate motor finance customers treated unfairly between 2007 and 2024, which it estimates will pay out £8.2 billion ($11 billion) in redress.
October 07, 2025
Class Reps Vie To Bring Rival Ad-Price Claims Against Google

A former judge and a competition law scholar on Tuesday fought to bring rival multibillion-pound class actions against Google over allegedly unfair advertising pricing practices, each arguing at a London tribunal that they would be the better candidate to take on the tech giant.

Editor's Picks

6 Bombshell Moments From Staley's Bid To Clear His Name

Jes Staley has suffered a bruising week as he testified about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, culminating in an admission by the former banker that he had sex with a member of the disgraced financier's staff.
5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Russia Sanctions Face Landmark Test At Supreme Court

The U.K.'s sanctions regime faces a major test on Wednesday as billionaire Eugene Shvidler seeks to have his financial restrictions cast off — the first case to challenge Russian sanctions that has reached the country's highest court.

Expert Analysis

What Draft AML Reforms Mean For UK Financial Sector

HM Treasury’s recently published draft regulations amending the U.K. Money Laundering Regulations, although not as material as expected, are a step toward a targeted risk-based approach, which the industry will welcome, say lawyers at Ropes & Gray.
What Key EU Data Ruling Means For Cross-Border Transfers

The European Union Court of Justice’s recent judgment in European Data Protection Supervisor v. Single Resolution Board takes a recipient-specific approach concerning pseudonymized information, but financial services firms making international transfers should follow the draft EU Data Protection Board guidelines’ current stricter approach, says Nathalie Moreno at Kennedys Law.
EU-US Data Transfer Ruling Offers Reassurance To Cos.

The European Union General Court’s recent upholding of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in Latombe v. European Commission, although subject to appeal, provides companies with legal certainty for the first time by allowing the transfer of European Economic Area personal data without relying on alternative mechanisms, say lawyers at Wilson Sonsini.
Supreme Court Ruling Stands Firm On Trust Law Principles

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent strict application of trust law in Stevens v. Hotel Portfolio may render it more difficult for lawyers in future cases to make arguments based on a holistic assessment of the facts, says Olivia Retter at Quinn Emanuel.
FCA's Woodford Fine Sends Warning To Fund Managers

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent decisions concerning Neil Woodford and the collapse of Woodford Investment Management mark an important moment for the U.K. investment industry, underscoring the regulator's focus on senior managers' personal accountability and the importance of putting investors’ interests at the heart of decision-making, say lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.
How Data Use Act Tightens Complaint Handling Procedures

Recently effective Data Use Act procedural requirements are coinciding with an artificial intelligence-driven increase in complaints from users about data subject access request responses, so organizations need to formalize their grievance process to prevent intervention by the Information Commissioner's Office and potential penalties, say lawyers at Womble Bond.
UK Supreme Court Dissent May Spark Sanctions Debate

While the recent U.K. Supreme Court's rejection of Eugene Shvidler’s appeal determined that sanctions decisions are primarily the government’s preserve, Justice Leggatt’s dissenting view that judges are better placed to assess proportionality will cause ripples and may mark a material shift in how future appeals are approached, say lawyers at Seladore.
What EBA Report Means For Non-EU Financial Firms

In a recent report concerning unregulated third country banks, the European Banking Authority decided not to extend a bank-to-bank exemption under the Capital Requirements Directive, raising a number of compliance issues for cross-border services, say lawyers at A&O Shearman.
HMRC's Automation Shift Likely To Alter Tax Adviser Role

HM Revenue & Customs’ recently released digital transformation road map promises greater efficiency and a modernized compliance regime, but the increased automation could also mean that the tax adviser role will become more proactive and more defensive, say lawyers at RPC.
What UK's New Prosecution Guidance Means For Compliance

Recent guidance from the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office and Crown Prosecution Service, aligning their approach with the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, offers a timely prompt for corporate boards and legal teams to update their risk management frameworks, say lawyers at Signature Litigation.
Viral Comms Crises Create Dual Corp. Governance Threats

As legislative hearings increase in frequency and social media fuels their reputational impact, corporate legal teams face a new dual challenge that reflects a fundamental shift in accountability and demands new strategies, governance frameworks and organizational capabilities, says Joanna Ludlam at Jenner & Block.
How AI May Have Made A Difference In Monzo Bank Breaches

Artificial intelligence tools have the capabilities needed to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated threats, and such tools might have helped prevent the anti-money laundering failures that led to the recent £21.1 million fine against Monzo Bank, says Alexander Vilardo at Howard Kennedy.
A Softer Tack For Online Ads Marks Next Step In Data Reform

While the initiative of the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office to relax enforcement of advertising cookie consent represents a welcome attempt to balance privacy protection and commercial realities, several questions remain that will limit companies' ability to benefit from the U.K. proposals, say lawyers at Skadden.
CMA App Store Mandates Fall Short Of Regulatory Ambitions

The Competition and Markets Authority's recent proposals to loosen Google and Apple’s mobile platform duopoly are a far cry from the assertive and wide-reaching interventions that advocates of the Digital Markets Unit had hoped to see from the new competition regulator, says Ronan Scanlan at Steptoe.
Catching Up On Simplified EU Sustainability Disclosure Rules

A recent proposal to streamline implementation of the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation contains measures that would reduce companies’ sustainable investment reporting and compliance requirements, and better support the EU’s climate and environmental goals, say lawyers at Proskauer.