Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

Former Top Prosecutors Back Judge-Only Fraud Trials

Radical reforms dispensing with jury trials for complex fraud and many other criminal cases may be the only way to stop the justice system from collapsing under its own weight, former chief prosecutors have told Law360.

4 Things To Watch As UK Releases Budget

The U.K.'s Labour government is set to release an autumn budget Wednesday that faces a test of balancing a pledge not to raise working people's taxes with an expected need to boost revenue to meet fiscal rules. Here are four things to watch for as the budget is issued.

Blocks featuring binary code with locks on dark blue background as illustration of blockchain technology.

SFO's Crypto Probe Marks Shift In Tackling Blockchain Fraud

The launch by the Serious Fraud Office of its first cryptocurrency investigation signals an appetite for using new resources to crack down on fraud, part of a wider move by U.K. law enforcement agencies to treat blockchain as a mainstream threat, lawyers say.

Individual cryptocurrency coins on view on a black surface.

How Mishcon Helped Uncover £5.6B Money Laundering Plot

Law360 examines here how a suspicious activity report raised by Mishcon de Reya about a client's attempted transactions served as the catalyst for one of the biggest cryptocurrency seizures in British history.

November 28, 2025
LetterOne Denied Compensation Over Forced Broadband Sale

An investment group backed by Russian oligarchs failed on Friday to secure the "fair market value" for its shares in a regional broadband provider that the U.K. government forced it to sell over national security concerns.
November 28, 2025
Private Prosecutors Eye Victims' Assets Amid SFO Probe

Lawyers and a fintech claims manager said Friday that they have begun efforts to help victims of an alleged $28 million fraud recover their money after a fraud-enforcement agency opened a criminal investigation into the "crypto hedge fund" scheme.
November 28, 2025
Odey Libel, Sex Assault Claims To Reach Trial In June

Former hedge fund manager Crispin Odey's £79 million ($104 million) libel claim against the Financial Times, alongside claims from five women accusing him of sexual abuse, will reach trial in 2026, a judge said at a London court on Friday.
November 28, 2025
PrivatBank Pursues $3B Fraud Judgment Against Ex-Owners

PrivatBank has said that its former owners have failed to pay more than $3 billion ordered by a London court after it found that they had orchestrated an elaborate money-siphoning scheme of sham loans tied to fictitious commodity trades.
November 28, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen the National Crime Agency target an Azerbaijan politician and a subsidiary of Withers over a disputed £50 million ($66 million) property portfolio, the eldest son of a British aristocratic family challenge the trustees of their multimillion-pound estate, and a sports lawyer suspected of dishonesty face action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority following his firm's closure.
November 28, 2025
Gupta Denies Hiding $600M Nickel Fraud From Trafigura

A businessman told the High Court on Friday that he did not attempt to hide the true contents of metal sold to Trafigura in an alleged $600 million nickel fraud, arguing that the trading firm could have inspected the shipments at any time without his involvement.
November 27, 2025
Osborne Pro Fights To Reverse SDT's Zahawi SLAPPs Ruling

An Osborne Clarke partner urged a court on Thursday to overturn a ruling by a disciplinary tribunal that he had wrongly attempted to prevent a tax policy journalist from disclosing that he was being threatened with a defamation claim by former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
November 27, 2025
Barrister Says Hacker's Negligence Claims Are Baseless

A barrister has denied claims that he negligently gave advice to a former chief technology officer who was found guilty of hacking a previous employer, arguing that the cyberattacker's arguments were simply bad law and weren't going to succeed.
November 27, 2025
Payment Providers Face Liability Under New EU Fraud Rules

The council and parliament of the European Union agreed on Thursday that payment service providers will be held liable if they do not use modern and improved methods for preventing the sector from facilitating fraud.
November 27, 2025
Trader Hid Fraud As Nickel Prices Soared, Trafigura Says

A metals trader denied allegations on Thursday that he tried to cover up his alleged nickel fraud against Trafigura when prices shot up in 2022, repeating his accusation that the commodities supplier knew it was trading in sham metal and was in on the scheme.
November 27, 2025
SRA Issues Scams Alert As Solicitors' Firm Hit By Fraud

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a warning after scammers used a law firm's name and credentials to set up a fraudulent website offering help with bringing claims over housing disrepair.
November 27, 2025
Insolvency Service Gets Extra £25M To Tackle Rogue Directors

The Insolvency Service has described its additional £25 million ($33 million) in government funding over the next five years as a welcome boost to its bid to weed out rogue directors in Britain.
November 26, 2025
SFO Expands Guidance On Corporate Compliance Evaluation

The Serious Fraud Office on Wednesday updated guidance for scenarios in which it may need to evaluate an organization's compliance programs, expanding on how it weighs whether a prosecution is in the public interest or if it should consider a deferred prosecution agreement.
November 26, 2025
Fugitive Forfeits £765K Over Halifax Mortgage Fraud

A London court on Wednesday ordered the confiscation of more than £765,000 ($1 million) from a fugitive convicted of mortgage fraud who had lied about the finances of his business to secure a loan from Halifax PLC.
November 26, 2025
UK Launches Reward Program For Tax Fraud Whistleblowers

The U.K. government launched a reward program on Wednesday for whistleblowers who report large-scale tax fraud to HM Revenue and Customs, offering informants significant payouts if investigators can claw back sizable amounts of tax.
November 26, 2025
London Court Nixes Bid To Halt UniCredit's Russian Arbitration

A London court has rejected an attempt by a fashion retail outlet owner to block UniCredit from continuing arbitration proceedings in Russia aimed at taking some of its roughly €42 million ($49 million) property portfolio.
November 26, 2025
FCA Charges 2 With Insider Dealing Linked To Takeover

The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it has started criminal proceedings against two men for allegedly making £70,000 ($93,000) from insider dealing linked to the £969 million takeover of a former property investment trust listed in London.
November 26, 2025
Betting Biz SportPesa Defeats Fraudulent Stake Dilution Case

Online betting company SportPesa has defeated a claim brought by its former chair, as a judge found that there was no evidence of an unlawful scheme to dilute his valuable stake in the company.
November 26, 2025
Trafigura Nickel Trader Planned $600M Fraud, Gupta Testifies

Metals trader Prateek Gupta on Wednesday denied defrauding Trafigura out of $600 million in a nickel scam, saying during cross-examination that the alleged fraud was instigated by Trafigura and that he was merely "following instructions."
November 26, 2025
Barrister Disbarred For Misleading Client In Fees Scheme

A tribunal has ordered a barrister to be disbarred after it found that he had deceived a client into paying fees for legal work to a bank account in his name, the Bar Standards Board said Tuesday.
November 25, 2025
FCA Engages With WH Smith After North America Profits Error

The Financial Conduct Authority revealed Tuesday that it is speaking with WH Smith after an independent review by Deloitte found that the company's North American division made an accounting blunder that overstated profits by as much as £50 million ($65.4 million).
November 25, 2025
NCA Files Claim Against Withers, Tycoon Over £50M Trust

The National Crime Agency has filed a High Court claim against a politician and tycoon and a subsidiary of Withers amid a dispute over his £50 million ($66 million) London property portfolio, which is held in trust by the law firm.
November 25, 2025
Waste Co. Must Pay Fired Worker With Whistleblowing Claim

A waste management company cannot overturn an order to continue paying one of its drivers, as an employment tribunal ruled it is likely he will win his claim that he was fired for raising health and safety concerns.
November 25, 2025
MPs Call For Expansion Of State Reinsurer To Cyberthreats

The government should extend the scope of the U.K.'s £2.2 trillion ($2.9 trillion) terrorism reinsurer to cover emerging cyberthreats, lawmakers have said, amid growing concerns about a risk to the economy of a major attack on IT infrastructure.
November 25, 2025
Kuwait Pension Chief's Kids Fail To Escape $1B Bribery Case

The children of a Kuwaiti pension authority director lost on Tuesday their bid to escape a case the organization has brought over an alleged $1 billion bribery scheme orchestrated by their father, who died in 2022.

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

OFSI Proposals Signal Greater Focus On Enforcement Activity

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s proposed financial sanctions reforms, with risks of higher penalties and more stringent disclosure requirements for U.K. banks and companies, reflect the agency’s evolution into a more sophisticated and robust enforcement regulator, says Irene Polieri at Gibson Dunn.
How 2nd Circ. Decision Extends CFTC's Extraterritorial Reach

The Second Circuit recently concluded in U.S. v. Phillips that the Commodity Exchange Act extends to entirely foreign conduct if a victim of the conduct is based in the U.S., suggesting there is a heightened risk that foreign swap transactions will be susceptible to U.S. regulation when U.S. counterparties are involved, say attorneys at Skadden.
UK Getty Ruling Tests Balance Of IP Rights And AI Industry

The recent Getty Images v. Stability AI High Court decision, rejecting copyright claims while upholding limited trademark infringement, will influence the creative community and U.K. artificial intelligence industry alike, and the training of AI models in the U.K. is still a risk, say lawyers at Powell Gilbert.
Takeaways From Landmark UK Ruling On Brazil Dam Collapse

The High Court found BHP liable for a Brazilian dam collapse that resulted in a major environmental disaster, showing that England remains open for complex transnational environmental claims and providing a road map for other mass claims that are sure to follow this case, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.
Navigating Compliance As EU Cybersecurity Rules Evolve

One year after the European Union’s Network and Information Systems Directive 2 took effect, in-scope organizations are encountering mounting pressure to meet new cybersecurity standards, and national variations are creating additional challenges for companies that operate across multiple EU jurisdictions, say lawyers at Goodwin.
EBA Proposals Signal Overhaul Of EU 3rd-Party Risk Rules

The European Banking Authority’s plans to extend third-party risk controls to non-ICT services, which may be finalized by the end of the year, will place a significant compliance and operational burden on in-scope entities, which should not be underestimated, say lawyers at Travers Smith.
UK Tribunal's Clearview Decision Expands GDPR Application

The Upper Tribunal’s recent decision in Information Commissioner v. Clearview AI is an important ruling on the extraterritorial reach of the European Union and U.K. General Data Protection Regulations, broadening behavioral monitoring to include not only activity by the company, but also its client, says Edward Machin at Ropes & Gray.
Decoding Arbitral Disputes: UK Assignability Of ICSID Awards

The recent High Court decision in Operafund v. Spain clarifies the stance of English law on an important question to investors, funders and sovereigns, concluding that awards under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention are not commodities that can be traded, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.
CMA Guide Clarifies Role Of Competition Law In Employment

The Competition and Markets Authority’s recent guide to applying U.K. competition law to employment market practices, with a focus on no-poach agreements, wage-fixing and exchange of sensitive information, provides welcome and timely guidance for employers trying to navigate this area, say lawyers at Lewis Silkin.
FCA Proposals Reduce Consumer Duty Compliance Burden

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to streamline the consumer duty regime represent a pragmatic response to industry concerns, with a move toward sector-specific supervision and potentially narrowing its scope for wholesale and cross-border business, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
How New Companies House ID Rules Affect Businesses

Lawyers at Shepherd & Wedderburn discuss the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act’s new mandatory identity verification requirements for all company directors and persons with significant control, set to go live next week, which aim to curb fraud by improving the reliability of information held by Companies House.
Russia Sanctions Spotlight: Taking Russian Oil Off The Market

The recent sanctions targeting Russia's energy sector by the U.K., EU and U.S. aim to limit Russia’s ability to fund its war machine by the sale of fossil fuels, representing an important escalation that has the potential to affect a wide range of business activities, says Alexandra Melia at Steptoe.
Role Of UK Investment Act Is Evolving In M&A Deals

With merger and acquisition activity likely to increase in light of the government’s new defense industrial strategy, the role of the National Security and Investment Act will come into sharper focus, and its recent annual report confirms that scrutiny is intensifying, say lawyers at Kingsley Napley.
What To Know About EU's Reimposition Of Sanctions On Iran

Lawyers at Steptoe discuss the European Union’s recent reimposition of trade and financial sanctions against Iran, which will introduce legal and operational constraints that affect EU companies' commercial activities in the region.
Navigating Int'l Laws To Protect Children In The Digital World

The European Commission’s recent request to online platforms for information on their measures to protect minors using their services is part of an intensifying focus on safeguarding children, and with an ever-growing worldwide maze of regulations, digital businesses should conduct a holistic assessment to minimize risks, says Anna Morgan at Bird & Bird.