Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

FCA's New Enforcement Regime Threatens Firms, Individuals

The Financial Conduct Authority could damage the reputations of businesses and individuals under investigation in cases that it publicizes anonymously as an unintended consequence of a new enforcement policy, lawyers have warned.

Jes Staley at the Rolls Building in London

How Staley's Legal Bid To Save His Reputation Backfired

Former Barclays boss James "Jes" Staley's bid to salvage his reputation has backfired in the face of a London tribunal's findings he "lacked credibility" due to the "overwhelming" evidence of his close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

AI-Driven Fake Evidence Could 'Play Havoc' In Legal Disputes

A recent High Court judgment exposed how nonexistent artificial intelligence-generated citations had been used in legal arguments — but experts say this could be the tip of the iceberg for increasingly sophisticated fake evidence making its way into disputes.

Cryptocurrency coming out of a man's hand

FCA's Crypto Ban Reversal Unleashes Consumer Harm Risk

The Financial Conduct Authority's proposed reversal of its ban on crypto exchange-traded notes for retail investors has paved the way for immeasurable consumer harm, U.K. and U.S. lawyers have warned.

July 01, 2025
Creditors Accuse Shipping Biz Of Trying To Evade $309M Debt

The Norwegian government and three finance companies have sued two Guernsey-based companies and a shipping businessman in a London court, accusing them of fraudulently transferring real estate assets to evade liability for loan defaults.
July 01, 2025
Bank Of Ireland Denies £60M Property Loan Fraud Claim

Bank of Ireland has denied a £60 million ($83 million) claim that it deceived a real estate investment business into borrowing millions of pounds by giving inflated property evaluations and said the borrower would have taken out the loan anyway because it was such a generous financial package.
July 01, 2025
HMRC Can Collect Tax In Disputed Avoidance Schemes

A London court has ruled that HM Revenue and Customs can collect disputed income tax owed by a group of companies that took part in tax avoidance schemes, even though the authority previously promised to postpone the requests until the disputes were settled.
July 01, 2025
FCA Can Drop £6M Fine In Cum-Ex Case After Danish Pleas

The Financial Conduct Authority can reverse its decision to fine a cum-ex trader £5.9 million ($8.1 million) to avoid prejudicing Denmark's attempts to claw back the proceeds from an alleged sham trading scheme, a London tribunal has ruled.
July 01, 2025
Traders Banned And Fined For 'Spoofing' Market Manipulation

A London tribunal has approved fines and bans for three traders totaling £381,000 ($523,000) for market abuse after upholding claims from the Financial Conduct Authority that they dishonestly placed bogus bond orders to manipulate the market.
July 01, 2025
EHRC Weighs 50K Responses To Single-Sex Services Guide

The equality watchdog is mulling over more than 50,000 responses to its controversial consultation on a guideline for complying with the Equality Act 2010, following the U.K. Supreme Court's landmark ruling on the definition of sex.
July 01, 2025
3 Ex-Officials At Letby Hospital Arrested In Baby Deaths Probe

Three former senior officials at the hospital where convicted child murderer Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, police said Tuesday.
July 01, 2025
UK To Start Rollout Of Migrant Worker Reforms

The U.K. government announced Tuesday that it is set to introduce a series of immigration reforms in Parliament, including raising a skill and salary threshold and ending overseas care worker recruitment.
July 01, 2025
Barclays Car Finance Appeal Must Wait For Top Court Ruling

Barclays' bid to overturn a ruling by the Financial Ombudsman on motor finance commissions was delayed on Tuesday, as the Court of Appeal adjourned the case to await a high-stakes judgment from the U.K. Supreme Court.
July 01, 2025
British-Russian Man Charged With Paying Bitcoin To Militia

A British-Russian national alleged to have funded pro-Russian militia groups in occupied eastern Ukraine through bitcoin payments made his first appearance at a London court on Tuesday accused of breaching the U.K. sanctions regime.
June 30, 2025
UK Supreme Court Denies Russia Immunity In $63B Yukos Case

Russia has been denied permission to challenge an appellate court ruling in Britain dismissing its attempt to use state immunity to block former investors in Yukos Oil Co. from enforcing more than $63 billion in arbitral awards they won nearly 11 years ago, the investors said Monday.
June 30, 2025
HMRC Investigated Avoidance Scheme Enough, Court Rules

HM Revenue & Customs didn't need to investigate further before determining that nearly 50 consultants owed taxes on income routed through offshore entities on the Isle of Man, the High Court of Justice said in declining to review the British tax authority's decision.
June 30, 2025
UK Backs G7 Deal Excluding US Cos. From Global Min. Tax

The U.K. government said it supports the Group of 7 countries' deal to exclude U.S. companies from the global minimum tax regime in exchange for the U.S. government dropping its so-called revenge tax.
June 30, 2025
Class Rep Can Bid To Revive £800M Water Pollution Case

An environmental consultant has won permission to challenge a U.K. antitrust court's decision to toss her proposed £800 million ($1.1 billion) class action against several water companies over their alleged failure to report pollution, her lawyers said Monday.
June 30, 2025
Google, Apple Accused Of Misleading App Age Ratings

Consumer advocates have filed a complaint against Apple and Google with Britain's competition watchdog, accusing the technology giants of displaying misleading age ratings for games bought in their app stores in breach of data and privacy regulations.
June 30, 2025
EU Watchdog Pushes For Stronger Greenwashing Controls

The European Union's markets watchdog warned national regulators Monday to supervise better how investment managers disclose sustainability-related factors of funds.
June 30, 2025
CPS Drops Bribery Case Against Oil Entrepreneur Over Errors

Prosecutors have dropped bribery charges against a Nigerian-born U.S. oil entrepreneur accused of making illegal payments to a banker, admitting at a court hearing in London on Monday to substantial errors in disclosing evidence.
June 27, 2025
FCA Launches Investigation Into John Wood Group

The U.K.'s financial watchdog said Friday that it has opened a probe into the Scottish multinational engineering consultancy John Wood Group PLC after the company revealed the probe in a statement to markets.
June 27, 2025
Dubai Man Banned From Doing Biz In UK Over £1.1M Tax Debt

A Dubai-based businessman is banned from directing companies in the U.K. after running up £1.1 million ($1.5 million) in tax debts and unpaid penalties with HM Revenue & Customs, including £400,000 in falsely claimed value-added tax refunds, the government's business authority said.
June 27, 2025
SRA Requests Post Office Files In Horizon IT Scandal Probe

The English solicitors' watchdog has asked a London court to compel the Post Office to hand over documents to the regulator's investigation into lawyers who worked for the company, following the Horizon IT scandal.
June 27, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen the British Basketball Federation sued by members of the men's professional basketball league for alleged competition breaches, songwriter Coco Star file an intellectual property claim against Universal Music Publishing, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority file a claim against the Post Office amid ongoing investigations into law firms linked to the Horizon IT Scandal. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
June 27, 2025
Ex-NASA Scientist Pleads Guilty To £1M Investment Fraud

A former NASA scientist has admitted a £1 million ($1.4 million) fraud that "fleeced unwitting investors" while he operated an investment business without authorization, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday.
June 27, 2025
ICO Secures Guilty Verdicts In Massive Data Misuse Case

The director of a legal funding company and seven other men have been convicted over a personal injury data conspiracy at an English court, the U.K.'s data regulator has said.
June 27, 2025
HMRC Beats Dentist's Appeal Over Tax Avoidance Scheme

A dental practice has failed to overturn a finding that it engaged in tax avoidance by making loan payments to its owner through a trust, after an appeals court Friday found that the payments fall to be taxed as income.
June 27, 2025
FCA Flags Poor Risk Management Practices At Payment Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority has revealed that payment services companies displayed inadequate risk management in every case it examined in a multi-company review.

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 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.
Why UK Sanctions Review Recommendations Lack Substance

The recent U.K. cross-government sanctions enforcement review makes welcome but unambitious recommendations, and without increasing funding for sanctions agencies or developing a whistleblower incentivization scheme, it is unlikely to result in tangible support for the sectors that most need it, say lawyers at WilmerHale.
How UK Law Firms Can Counter Money Laundering Threat

With figures released in May showing that money laundering was the biggest source of fraud in the U.K. last year, law firms should focus on internal identification and prevention strategies, considering the scale and nature of potential risk exposure depends on several business factors, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.
Key Takeaways As EU And UK Impose New Russia Sanctions

The European Union and U.K.’s new sanctions on Russia, designating increasing numbers of non-Russian companies in the defense and shipping sectors, mean that organizations must examine from the outset whether a transaction has any nexus with the EU or the U.K., say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
8 Ways Law Firms Can Prepare For SRA's AML Offensive

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s recent plans to intensify anti-money laundering enforcement means firms need to concentrate on strengthening client matter risk assessments, policies and procedures, source of funds checks and firmwide risk assessments, says Harriet Holmes at Thirdfort.
How Unfair Practice Rules Boost Consumer Protections

With the consumer protection aspects of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act now in force, companies must not only ensure their business is not engaged in prohibited practices, but also consider how consumers make decisions to acquire goods and services, say lawyers at Linklaters.
Fraud Office Guidance Highlights Value Of Self-Reporting

New guidance from the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office on corporate self-reporting, cooperation and deferred prosecution agreements provides a useful framework for companies navigating criminal investigations and their potential resolutions — and underscores that corporations that self-report are in a better position to obtain DPAs than those that do not, say lawyers at Skadden.
Answering Key Questions About 2 EU Cybersecurity Laws

As companies work to implement two nascent European Union cybersecurity measures, the Digital Operational Resilience Act and the second Network and Information Security Directive, lawyers at MoFo address nine conceptual questions emerging around their interpretation and compliance obligations.
Industry Input Is Key As EU Weighs New Tariffs On US Trade

The European Commission’s ongoing consultation, which seeks feedback on a proposed expansion of products subject to tariffs and restrictions in retaliation to U.S. tariffs, opens an important opportunity for industry stakeholders to highlight why a scope exclusion is warranted, say lawyers at Crowell & Moring.
What End of Payment Systems Regulator Means For Biz

The U.K. government’s plan to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator and absorb its functions into the Financial Conduct Authority should eventually lighten the compliance burden for businesses under the PSR’s remit, which may in turn encourage growth, but the proposed changes will roll out slowly, say lawyers at Farrer & Co.
Compliance Lessons From Art Dealer's Terror Financing Plea

Regulated businesses can learn from the missteps of a recently convicted London art dealer, who failed to disclose sales to a suspected Hezbollah financier, by implementing compliance measures like anti-terrorism financing screenings as robust as their anti-money laundering policies and training staff to spot red flags, say lawyers at White & Case.
UK Capital Reforms May Help Startup Founders, VC Investors

Hidden in the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent proposals on the definition of capital for investment firms are changes to the eligibility requirements for instruments to be included in a firm's regulatory capital — changes that may reduce the risk of investing, especially in early-stage fintech firms, says Andrew Henderson at Goodwin.
EU Watchdog's ESG Dashboard Raises Transparency Bar

The European Banking Authority’s recently introduced ESG dashboard is a key tool in aligning financial institutions with the European Union's sustainability policies, and fundamentally alters the risk environment by transitioning climate-related data from a compliance afterthought to a core component of strategic decision-making, says Kristýna Tupá at Schönherr.
Whistleblower Rewards May Soon Materialize In UK

Recent government and Serious Fraud Office announcements indicate that the U.K.’s long-standing aversion to rewarding whistleblowers is reversing, underlining the importance for organizations to consider managing misconduct risk and prepare for a potentially significant uptick in tipoffs, says Tom Grodecki at Cadwalader.
High Court Ruling Shows Firm Stance On Procedural Integrity

The recent High Court decision in Qatar Investment v. Phoenix Ancient Art demonstrates its zero tolerance of procedural failure, serving as a reminder that the financial burden associated with document disclosure will not excuse a party’s failure to comply with court orders, say lawyers at Quillon Law.