Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

Hayes' Victory Leaves SFO Rate Rigging Convictions In Doubt

The decision by the U.K. Supreme Court to quash the convictions of two former traders accused of manipulating interest rates has opened the door for other bankers to challenge the fairness of their trials, lawyers say.

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Senior Managers Regime Revamp Risks Letting In Bad Apples

The City watchdog's planned overhaul of its senior managers regime risks allowing people with records of misconduct to slip into financial firms because of the relaxation of rules on references and criminal checks, according to lawyers.

Staley Tribunal Decision Could Fuel Challenges To FCA Fines

A landmark tribunal ruling that upheld the Financial Conduct Authority's ban of ex-Barclays CEO James "Jes" Staley from banking — but slashed his fine — could ultimately lead other executives with back-loaded pay packages to fight the watchdog's decisions, lawyers say.

Sign on the building outside the main criminal court in London.

Lawyers Warn Jury-Free Trials Won't Solve Court Backlog

Proposals to create a new division of court without juries will not solve the backlog of cases facing the criminal justice system without long-term investment to undo systemic underfunding, lawyers warned Wednesday.

July 24, 2025
Taylor Vinters Fined For AML Breach Before Mishcon Deal

The solicitors' watchdog said Thursday that it has fined Taylor Vinters LLP £172,900 ($234,100) for anti-money laundering violations that predate its 2023 merger with Mishcon de Reya LLP.
July 24, 2025
SFO Charges 6 With Fraud Over £75M Pension Investments

The Serious Fraud Office charged six individuals with fraud and money laundering on Thursday over alleged misrepresentations made to investors who poured £75 million ($101 million) from their pensions into self-storage units.
July 23, 2025
UK Eyes Google, Apple Mandates For App Ranking, Payments

United Kingdom antitrust authorities on Wednesday formally proposed singling out Apple's and Google's mobile platforms for extra regulatory attention and specific mandates, proposing road maps for the Play Store and App Store that could try to stop the companies from boosting their own apps and commission-based payment systems.
July 23, 2025
2nd Circ. Orders Review Of Sealed Epstein Case Docs

The Second Circuit on Wednesday vacated rulings denying requests to unseal materials in a defamation case tied to deceased financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, ordering a New York district court to review certain filings after determining they're considered judicial documents and presumed to be public.
July 23, 2025
PE Firm Says Ex-All Saints Chair In Contempt Over Share Sale

An arm of private equity firm Lion Capital urged a London judge on Wednesday to find the former chairman of All Saints had breached a court order by challenging a deal to sell his shares in the high street fashion chain.
July 23, 2025
Student Jailed For Selling Phishing Kits Used In £100M Fraud

A university student who sold more than a thousand phishing kits which were used to commit fraud worth at least £100 million ($135 million) globally has been jailed for seven years, the Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday.
July 23, 2025
Deloitte Faces UK Probe Over Glencore Audits

Britain's accounting watchdog said Wednesday that it had started an enforcement investigation into accounting firm Deloitte over audits into Glencore over an eight-year period that partially overlaps with the years the commodities and mining group ran a global bribery scheme.
July 23, 2025
Credit Suisse Gets Forex Cartel Fine Slashed To €28M

The European Union's General Court reduced on Wednesday a fine imposed on Credit Suisse for its part in a foreign-exchange trading cartel by approximately €54.3 million ($64 million).
July 23, 2025
ENRC Wins Appeal To Add $128M Damages In SFO Dispute

ENRC won its bid on Wednesday to add $128 million in damages to its claim against the Serious Fraud Office as the Court of Appeal ruled that the mining company is entitled to ask for compensation for money lost to higher borrowing costs arising from the agency's investigation.
July 23, 2025
FCA Criticizes Firms For Slow Fixes To Reporting Failures

The Financial Conduct Authority warned regulated companies on Wednesday that it has found deficiencies in transaction reporting, with some taking too long to address compliance failings.
July 23, 2025
Liquidators Win Bid To Enforce £102M Award Over Hotel Fraud

A businessman will be bound by a £102 million ($138 million) damages bill after he helped a property investor swindle secret profits, Britain's highest court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting his argument that the scheme had not caused financial harm to the defrauded company.
July 23, 2025
Top UK Court Overturns Traders' Rate-Rigging Convictions

Britain's highest court quashed on Wednesday the convictions of two former traders imprisoned for interest rate rigging in a landmark decision that could open the door for upending historic prosecutions.
July 22, 2025
Ex-Soldier Ran £1.3M Investment Ponzi Fraud, Jurors Told

A former British Army rifleman ran a Ponzi investment fraud which raised £1.3 million ($1.7 million) from 238 investors before collapsing, the U.K.'s financial regulator said at the beginning of a London criminal trial Tuesday.
July 22, 2025
UK To Ban Ransomware Payments To Protect Public Services

The Home Office said Tuesday that public bodies may be banned from making ransom payments to cybercriminals under a set of new proposals that it says will make public services a less attractive target for hackers.
July 22, 2025
Artist Can't Appeal Fake 'Fishrot' Apology Copyright Breach

A performance artist can't appeal a decision that he infringed the copyright of Iceland's largest fishing company by creating a spoof corruption apology about the company's involvement in bribing Namibian officials, a London court ruled Tuesday.
July 22, 2025
VTB Sues Investment Biz In Sanctions Dispute Over Trades

VTB Capital PLC has sued an investment firm for $3.4 million over unsettled trades of Russian securities, arguing that the other company did not have the right to terminate the trades due to sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
July 22, 2025
BoE Chief Vows To Speak Up If Deregulation Goes Too Far

Andrew Bailey told a cross-party group of lawmakers Tuesday that he would speak out if the Treasury tries too hard to deregulate the financial services industry, adding that bank ring-fencing must remain in place.
July 22, 2025
DWF Beats Data Privacy Challenge In Injury Fraud Evidence

A London court tossed claims Tuesday that DWF Law LLP broke data protection laws when it analyzed and shared health information from three former personal injury claimants in a bid to expose alleged fraud patterns in road traffic accident cases.
July 22, 2025
NCA Calls For Crypto-Data Sharing In £100B AML Battle

The National Crime Agency has called for financial services companies to share data with law enforcers to improve identification of illicit cryptocurrency activity as it seeks to combat the estimated £100 billion ($135 billion) laundered in the country every year.
July 22, 2025
GDPR Whistleblower Wins Bid To Be Paid Until Full Trial

An employment tribunal has ordered a luxury car dealership to keep paying the salary of an employee it recently fired, ruling that she had a strong case that the company had punished her for speaking out over data protection breaches.
July 22, 2025
HP Owed More Than £730M From Autonomy Fraud Case

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is owed more than £730 million ($985 million) from the estate of Mike Lynch and his former business partner, a London judge ruled on Tuesday, almost a year after the technology entrepreneur died when a yacht he was aboard sank in the Mediterranean Sea.
July 21, 2025
UK Co. Faces £1M Penalty For Failing To Report Tax Scheme

HM Revenue & Customs was right to determine that a company had promoted a contractor loan tax scheme, a London tribunal ruled, finding the Manchester-based business liable for up to £1 million ($1.3 million) in penalties.
July 21, 2025
New AI Audit Standard Aims To Tame 'Wild West' Market

The British Standards Institution on Monday unveiled what it called the world's first standard for companies independently auditing artificial intelligence systems amid concern over a potential "wild west" of unchecked providers.
July 21, 2025
Ex-Execs Sue Telecom Biz Over Alleged £8M Share Sale Loss

Two former directors of a telecom technology company are suing their successors for over £8 million ($10.7 million), alleging they were tricked into selling their shares at a fraction of their true value.
July 21, 2025
Trader Blames Deutsche Bank For Spoofing Conviction

A former Deutsche Bank trader convicted of tricking market competitors through a "spoofing" scheme has sued the bank in a London court, alleging it trained him to use an illegal trading strategy and then "scapegoated" him when he faced prosecution.

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 Cos. Must Note From EU's Delivery Hero-Glovo Ruling

The European Commission’s recent landmark decision in Delivery Hero-Glovo, sanctioning companies for the first time over a stand-alone no-poach cartel agreement, underscores the potential antitrust risks of horizontal cross-ownership between competitors, say lawyers at McDermott.
What To Expect As FCA Preps To Launch AI Testing Service

The Financial Conduct Authority’s forthcoming artificial intelligence live testing service will provide participants with access to appropriate regulatory expertise, but to gauge the tool’s potential utility, it is important to understand how it fits in with what the regulator is already doing, says Omar Salem at Fox Williams.
New Interpol Silver Notice Could Be Tool For Justice Or Abuse

Interpol has issued dozens of Silver Notices to trace and recover assets linked to criminal activity since January, and though the tool may disrupt organized crime and terrorist financing, attorneys must protect against the potential for corrupt misuse, say attorneys at Clark Hill and Arktouros.
Weighing PE Transaction Risks As EU AI Act Rolls Out

As the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act becomes effective in stages, legal practitioners involved in private equity deals should consider the transactional risks resulting from this measure, including penalties, extraterritorial reach and target-firm applicability, say lawyers at Covington.
Preparing For Literacy Compliance Under EU AI Act

The European Commission's recent Q&A on artificial intelligence literacy is designed to assist with European Union AI Act compliance, but since the law does not require a one-size-fits-all approach, organizations need to consider specific use cases and focus on implementing staff training, says Edward Machin at Ropes & Gray.
EU Banking Watchdog Regulations Herald New AML Era

The European Banking Authority’s forthcoming anti-money laundering package will set a framework for compliance across the European Union by redefining the rules of engagement between financial institutions and supervisors, setting a new standard for transparency and accountability, say lawyers at A&O Shearman.
UK-EU Competition Agreement Signals Rebuilding Of Ties

The European Commission’s recent adoption of proposals to sign the European Union-U.K. competition agreement is a welcome first step toward better policy and enforcement convergence, providing a clearer legal framework for businesses to manage regulatory risk, says Charles Whiddington at Steptoe.
What To Expect As UK, US Gov'ts Develop Stablecoin Policies

While the U.K. and U.S. governments’ policies both suggest that fiat-backed stablecoins can improve efficiency and safety in payments systems, a perception that crypto-assets remain high risk means consumers are unlikely to use them in significant volume anytime soon, say lawyers at Cadwalader.
Decoding Arbitral Disputes: UK Injunctions Across Borders

A recent High Court of Justice decision allowing JPMorgan Chase Bank to block VTB Bank from bringing suit in a Russian court provides a seminal reflection on the power of English courts to issue antisuit injunctions when global banking disputes increasingly straddle multiple jurisdictions, says Josep Galvez of 4-5 Gray's Inn.
7 Reforms To Note Under New UK Data Protection Law

Although the recently enacted Data Use Act’s changes to U.K. law are subtle, its reforms go beyond data protection, including changes that redefine the scope of scientific research and an update that clarifies what constitutes automated decision-making, says James Castro-Edwards at Arnold & Porter.
How Regulators Want Online Platforms To Fight Finance Fraud

Recent statements from the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the European Securities and Markets Authority make clear that online platform providers are expected to adopt proactive measures to prevent the promotion of unauthorized financial services and related misconduct, say lawyers at Taylor Wessing.
FCA Notes Industry Criticism But Keeps Transparency Focus

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recently updated enforcement guide finally gives up the "naming and shaming" public interest test, demonstrating that the regulator has recognized the industry's serious concerns while maintaining less contentious aspects of its proposals to improve transparency in investigations, say lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.
Anticipating A Shift In CMA Merger Control Enforcement

As the Competition and Markets Authority outlines plans to put the U.K. government's growth objectives into action, the changes may well pave the way for a more permissive outlook for review of mergers and acquisitions in the U.K., say lawyers at A&O Shearman.
Court Backing Of FCA Pensions Ruling Sends Key Message

The Upper Tribunal’s recent upholding of the Financial Conduct Authority's decisions against CFP Management directors serves as a judicial endorsement of the regulator’s approach to defined benefit transfers, underscoring that where the advisory model is fundamentally flawed, the consequences for those in control can be severe, say lawyers at RPC.
What To Note As UK Adopts OECD Crypto Disclosure Rules

With the U.K.’s recent announcement that it will adopt the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's crypto-asset reporting framework, users and providers will benefit from understanding the context surrounding the decision and the framework's intended goal of clamping down on tax evasion, say lawyers at Brown Rudnick.