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Corporate Crime & Compliance UK
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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May 22, 2024
BT Fined £2.8M For Failing EE, Plusnet Customers
The media watchdog said Wednesday it has fined telecoms group BT £2.8 million ($3.6 million) for failing to provide enough information to more than a million customers of mobile phone network EE and internet service provider Plusnet.
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May 22, 2024
Citigroup Fined £61.6M For Trading Systems Failings
Two finance regulators said Wednesday they have fined Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. a total of £61.6 million ($78.4 million) for failures in trading systems that led to the lender mistakenly selling $1.4 billion in equities into European markets.
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May 21, 2024
Leigh Day Considering Legal Action Over UK Blood Scandal
Personal injury and human rights firm Leigh Day said Tuesday that it was considering legal action against the U.K. government on behalf of clients who were given infected blood transfusions over three decades, after a government minister gave a speech outlining how victims will be compensated.
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May 21, 2024
EU Gives Final Approval To World's First AI Rulebook
European Union law negotiators gave the final green light on Tuesday to the first worldwide rules on artificial intelligence across most sectors including financial services, classifying its usage in bank lending risk assessments or insurance underwriting for EU citizens as high-risk.
Expert Analysis
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Why EU Ruling On Beneficial Ownership May Affect The UK
Following the EU judgment in Sovim v. Luxembourg that public access to beneficial ownership information conflicts with data protection rights, several British overseas territories and dependencies have recently reversed their commitment to introduce unrestricted access, and challenges to the U.K.’s liberal stance may be on the cards, says Rupert Cullen at Allectus Law.
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UK Gov't Response Clarifies AI Regulation Approach
Although the U.K. government’s recent response to its artificial intelligence consultation is a clear signal of its continuing pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, high-level systems are likely to be the focus of scrutiny and organizations may consider reviewing measures they have implemented to help identify risks, say Christopher Foo and Edward Machin at Ropes & Gray.
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Key Changes In FRC Code Aim To Promote Good Governance
The focus of the recently published Financial Reporting Council Corporate Governance Code on risk management and internal controls is to ensure the competitiveness of the U.K. listing regime while not compromising on governance standards, and issuers may wish to consider updating their policies in order to follow best practice, say lawyers at Debevoise.
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Ruling In FCA Case Offers Tips On Flexible Work Requests
In Wilson v. Financial Conduct Authority, the Employment Tribunal recently found that the regulator's rejection of a remote work request was justified, highlighting for employers factors that affect flexible work request outcomes, while emphasizing that individual inquiries should be considered on the specific facts, say Frances Rollin, Ella Tunnell and Kerry Garcia at Stevens & Bolton.
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EU Vote Delay Puts Course Of Sustainability Directive In Doubt
With time to adopt the proposed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive during this Parliamentary term running out, and with upcoming elections threatening political uncertainty, the degree of compromise that may be needed to secure a "yes" vote now could undermine the shift the legislation seeks to achieve, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.
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Full EU Import Border Controls Pose Hurdles For UK Cos.
The U.K.’s long-anticipated introduction of full border controls on imports of goods from the EU, due to complete by the end of 2024, brings the system broadly into line with goods imported from the rest of the world, but may result in delays, increased costs and disruption as businesses adapt, say Ben Chivers and Jonathan Rush at Travers Smith.
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Cos. Should Review Cookie Compliance After ICO Warnings
The Information Commissioner's Office recently restated its intention to take enforcement action on the unlawful use of nonessential cookies, and with the additional threat of public exposure and reputational damage, organizations should review their policies and banners to ensure they comply with data protection legislation, says Murron Marr at Shepherd & Wedderburn.
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New Fraud Prevention Offense May Not Make Much Difference
By targeting only large organizations, the Economic Crime Act's new failure to prevent fraud offense is striking in that, despite its breadth, it will affect so few companies, and is therefore unlikely to help ordinary victims, says Andrew Smith at Corker Binning.
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Mitigating And Managing Risks Of AI Use In Private Equity
While generative artificial intelligence has the ability to transform private equity firms and their portfolio companies, its deployment brings inherent risks, including those presented by the forthcoming EU AI Act, requiring appropriate risk management strategies, processes and policies to be adopted, says Barry Fishley at Weil.
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Vodafone Decision Highlights Wide Scope Of UK's FDI Rules
The U.K. government’s recently imposed conditions required for its approval of Vodafone and Etisalat’s strategic relationship agreement under its National Security and Investment Act jurisdiction, illustrating the significance of the act as an important factor for transactions with a U.K. link, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.
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Decoding UK Case Law On Anti-Suit Injunctions
The English High Court's forthcoming decision on an anti-suit injunction filed in Augusta Energy v. Top Oil last month will provide useful guidance on application grounds for practitioners, but, pending that ruling, other recent decisions offer key considerations when making or resisting claims when there is an exclusive jurisdiction clause in the contract, says Abigail Healey at Quillon Law.
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Consultation Docs Can Help EU Firms Prep For Crypto Regs
Firms providing crypto services should note two recent papers from the European Securities and Markets Authority defining proposals on reverse solicitation and financial instrument classification that will be critical to clarifying the scope of the regulatory framework under the impending Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.
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A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case
After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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Investors' Call For Voting Changes Faces Practical Challenges
A recent investor coalition call on fund managers to offer pass-through voting on pooled funds highlights a renewed concern for clients’ interests, but legal, regulatory and technological issues need to be overcome to ensure that risks related to the product are effectively mitigated, says Angeli Arora at Allectus.
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Litigation Funding Implications Amid Post-PACCAR Disputes
An English tribunal's recent decision in Neill v. Sony, allowing an appeal on the enforceability of a litigation funding agreement, highlights how the legislative developments on funding limits following the U.K. Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Paccar v. Competition Appeal Tribunal may affect practitioners, say Andrew Leitch and Anoma Rekhi at BCLP.