Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

  • June 16, 2026

    Rathbones Halts New High-Risk Clients After FCA Review

    Wealth manager Rathbones Group PLC said Tuesday that it has paused onboarding new clients that require enhanced due diligence after a regulatory review identified areas of improvement for its consumer duty implementation and certain compliance, oversight and assurance arrangements.

  • June 16, 2026

    Fitch Accused Of Inflating Debt Ratings Before 2008 Crash

    Fitch Ratings secretly adjusted its credit rating models in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis to generate artificially high credit ratings for complex debt investments, motivated by a desire to grow its revenues, an investment firm said in its latest claim against a major rating agency. 

  • June 16, 2026

    Chinese Cos. Save Patent On Banknote Security Strip

    Two Chinese companies have convinced European appellate officials to revive their patent for an embedded security strip used on banknotes and credit cards, handing a loss to a security firm and plastics maker that argued its anti-counterfeiting magnetic strip wasn't new.

  • June 16, 2026

    Russian Shadow Fleet Ship Captain Charged Over Sanctions

    Prosecutors have charged the captain of a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker with circumventing the U.K.'s sanctions after the vessel was seized by special forces in the English Channel on Sunday.

  • June 16, 2026

    FCA Eyes Higher Fines After Setbacks In Staley Case

    The financial regulator has said it plans to hike the fines it imposes on individuals for misconduct following a series of legal setbacks that slashed its sanctions against senior executives. 

  • June 15, 2026

    OnlyFans Software Platform Denies Breaching Antitrust Laws

    An OnlyFans software platform has denied a rival company's claim that it breached competition law by failing to make user data readily available, telling a London court that it was under no obligation to do so.

  • June 15, 2026

    Disqualified Director Jailed For £3M Fraud, Money Laundering

    A company director has been sentenced to four years in prison for diverting more than £3 million ($4 million) through an insolvency fraud and money laundering scheme, the Insolvency Service said.

  • June 15, 2026

    KC Says He Was Entitled To Cut Tax Bill In £2M Evasion Case

    A senior barrister accused of cheating the public purse out of almost £2 million ($2.7 million) told a court on Monday that he was "morally entitled" to pursue a strategy to reduce his tax liability.

  • June 15, 2026

    Tech Firms Urged To Pay Up As UK Fraud Hits £1.3B

    Technology and telecoms companies should be forced to join banks in compensating consumers for payment fraud, the body representing financial institutions in the U.K. said on Monday, as it revealed that criminals stole £1.28 billion ($1.72 billion) in 2025.

  • June 15, 2026

    Pensions Regulator Adds 3 Senior Execs To Its Board

    The government said Monday that it has appointed three new members to the board of the pensions watchdog in a move to bolster its leadership ahead of sweeping reforms that are set to reshape the retirement sector.

  • June 12, 2026

    Businessman Unable To Unmask Source For High-Risk Listing

    A Chinese businessman suspected of financial crime linked to his U.K. property interests lost a bid on Friday to force a London Stock Exchange Group unit to explain how his name appeared on a database of high-risk individuals.

  • June 12, 2026

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

    The past week in London has seen the FCA bring a claim against a fund manager it accused of providing investment services despite having been banned, an Ardmore unit sue a contractor two days before the construction group's collapse, and shipping and cruise giant MSC hit back at an entertainment company following separate intellectual property litigation in the U.S. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • June 12, 2026

    4 Members Of £23M Crypto Money Laundering Ring Jailed

    The leaders of a £23.4 million ($31.3 million) money laundering ring that cleaned money for Irish and Kurdish organized criminals were sentenced to a total of more than 27 years' imprisonment at a London court Friday.

  • June 12, 2026

    Drinks Co. Says $1.1M Wine IP Battle Judgment Won By Fraud

    A U.K. drinks business has accused an American beverage brand creator of obtaining a $1.1 million U.S. court judgment by fraud in a dispute over the British company's purchase of a wine brand.

  • June 12, 2026

    City Police Launch Crackdown On Travel Insurance Fraud

    The U.K.'s financial crime police force said it had arrested a man who had faked his own death to support a fraudulent insurance claim, as part of a national fraud crackdown.

  • June 12, 2026

    Ex-Defense Executives Can Be Named In Bribery DPA Docs

    Former executives at a British defense contractor can be named as part of a corporate bribery settlement owing to the public interest in identifying them, a London judge has ruled, in a potentially precedent-setting legal decision for open justice published Friday.

  • June 11, 2026

    Ex-Bank Chief Admits Role In Odebrecht Tax Evasion Plot

    The former CEO of Austrian lender Meinl Bank AG on Thursday pled guilty in Brooklyn federal court after a yearslong fight over accusations he helped Odebrecht SA hide $170 million in funds used to bribe officials around the world and defraud the Brazilian government out of more than $100 million in taxes. 

  • June 11, 2026

    Ex-Moelis Banker Avoids Prison After US Trip To Admit Guilt

    A Manhattan federal judge allowed a former Moelis & Co. investment banker to avoid prison Thursday after he voluntarily traveled to the United States to cop to his role in a large insider trading conspiracy that profited from stolen merger secrets.

  • June 11, 2026

    SFO Recovers Extra Proceeds From £8.2M Biofuel Fraud Case

    The Serious Fraud Office secured a £96,000 ($128,000) confiscation order on Thursday against one of seven men who defrauded thousands of investors out of £8.2 million through a sham biofuel company.

  • June 11, 2026

    Lender Gets Possession Over Sanctioned Russian's Home

    A mortgage provider won a dispute Thursday with the sanctioned daughter of Russian arms manufacturer Mkrtich Okroevich Okroyan when a London judge ruled that it can claim her home because she cannot make due payments.

  • June 11, 2026

    S&P Accused Of Inflating Credit Ratings Ahead Of 2008 Crash

    S&P knowingly generated artificially high credit ratings for risky securities to win business before the 2008 financial crisis, an investment company that acquired claims from several Bear Stearns funds alleged in a new court claim.

  • June 11, 2026

    KC In £2M Evasion Case Defends 'Efficient' Tax Setup

    A senior barrister accused of cheating the public purse out of almost £2 million ($2.7 million) told a court Thursday that he had set up "tax-efficient" arrangements which "anyone with any sense would use."

  • June 11, 2026

    BancTrust CEO To Challenge FCA Fine Over Disclosure Lapse

    The chief executive of an investment bank will challenge a £99,600 ($133,000) fine for allegedly failing to disclose sanctions imposed by U.S. finance regulators and that Venezuelan authorities had frozen his bank accounts, the Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday.

  • June 11, 2026

    2 Men Guilty Of Selling Arms To Libya, Syria, S. Sudan

    Two men who "showed a blatant disregard for international sanctions" were convicted on Thursday of illegally selling arms and military equipment to war-torn countries in Africa and the Middle East, HM Revenue and Customs said.

  • June 11, 2026

    MFS Auditors Probed Following Mortgage Lender's Collapse

    The U.K.'s accounting watchdog opened an investigation on Thursday into the conduct of individuals and firms involved in auditing the books of failed mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions, whose collapse has sparked allegations of a £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) fraud.

Expert Analysis

  • Reviewing EU Competition Policy 1 Year After Draghi's Report

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    Implementation of the Mario Draghi report’s proposals to revamp European Union competition policy is currently case-specific, making it less visible, and more needs to be done in the way of merger review and antitrust enforcement, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • 5 Ways To Address The Legal Risks Of Employee AI Use

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    Employees’ use of unauthorized artificial intelligence tools has become a regulatory issue, and in-house legal counsel are best placed to close the gap between governance controls and innovation, mitigating the risk of organizations' exposure to noncompliance with European Union and U.K. data protection requirements, say lawyers at MoFo.

  • Opinion

    New US-UK Tech Deal Offers Opportunities To Boost Growth

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    The recently announced U.S. and U.K. Technology Prosperity Deal, encouraging businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to work together toward technological advance, will drive both investment in U.K. capabilities and returns for U.S. investors, says Peter Watts at Hogan Lovells.

  • What Draft AML Reforms Mean For UK Financial Sector

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    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

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    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.

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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