Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

  • January 28, 2026

    Lawyers Urge UK Gov't To Expand Anti-SLAPP Laws

    More than 120 lawyers and other representatives of civil society called on Wednesday for the government to include provisions in the next King's Speech for tackling strategic legal claims designed to gag reporting and silence criticism.

  • January 28, 2026

    Coinbase Crypto Ads Banned Over Cost-Of-Living Claims

    The Advertising Standards Authority banned adverts by Britain's largest crypto-asset exchange on Wednesday, saying that they trivialize the risk of cryptocurrency investing by implying it could be an alternative to cost-of-living concerns.

  • January 28, 2026

    Ex-OPEC Head Vowed Oil Execs Would Join Her In Jail

    Diezani Alison-Madueke threatened to expose the oil tycoons who had showered her with lavish gifts after hearing rumors of a plot to "sink" her, vowing to "escort all of you to jail along with myself," prosecutors told a London court on Wednesday.

  • January 28, 2026

    FCA Urged To Clarify AI Rules For Senior Managers

    The Financial Conduct Authority is facing calls from legal experts for it to plug gaps in its rules that could leave senior managers on the hook for failings in artificial intelligence under existing accountability regulations.

  • January 27, 2026

    UBS Wants Hayes' $400M Malicious Prosecution Suit Axed

    UBS AG has asked a Connecticut state court to throw out former trader Tom Hayes' lawsuit that alleges the bank scapegoated him for Libor-rigging, arguing the case doesn't belong in the state and improperly seeks to punish the bank for cooperating with prosecutors.

  • January 27, 2026

    Slapped Down: SRA At Crossroads After SLAPP Setbacks

    The string of failed prosecutions brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority against City lawyers accused of trying to silence journalists on behalf of clients has raised questions about its enforcement strategy, with critics accusing the watchdog of overreaching its rules.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-OPEC Head Accused Of Taking Cash, Cars, Jets In Bribes

    Diezani Alison-Madueke lived a "life of luxury" taking bribes that included cash, cars and the use of high-end properties to "favor" executives in Nigeria's oil and gas industry, prosecutors said at the start of her criminal trial in London on Tuesday.

  • January 27, 2026

    Execs Say $22M Investec Loan Breached Sberbank Sanctions

    Two business executives have denied owing Investec Bank PLC almost £22 million ($30.2 million) over loan agreements, arguing that the Anglo-South African lender knew the deals were designed to aid the purchase of a Russian bank's assets in breach of sanctions.

  • January 27, 2026

    Home Office Pressed Over Failure To Explain RTW Fine

    The Home Office must explain how it has determined that someone does not have the right to work in the U.K. when it issues penalty notices to employers, a restaurant argued at Britain's top court on Tuesday.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-Biotech CEO Wins New Shot At Whistleblowing Claim

    A London appeals judge has handed the sacked chief executive of a biotechnology company a second shot at his whistleblowing claim, slamming an earlier tribunal's "wholly insufficient" assessment of his claimed protected disclosures.

  • January 27, 2026

    CMA Seeks To Appeal Re-Do Of £70M Pfizer, Flynn Drug Fines

    The Competition and Markets Authority sought permission from the Court of Appeal on Tuesday to challenge a decision that criticized and revised the £70 million ($96 million) in fines it issued to Pfizer and Flynn Pharma for excessive pricing.

  • January 26, 2026

    Scots Law Society Beats Bias Claim Over Conduct Probe

    A tribunal has ruled that the Scottish law society did not discriminate against a qualified lawyer based on his Roman Catholic Christian faith by hastily investigating a complaint of misconduct against him.

  • January 26, 2026

    UK To Create 'British FBI' To Tackle Fraud, Serious Crime

    The U.K. government announced it will create a new national police force dubbed the "British FBI" to investigate fraud by merging the National Crime Agency with other law enforcement agencies.

  • January 26, 2026

    Mail's Spying Gave Me 'Sleepless Nights,' Sadie Frost Says

    Actor Sadie Frost told a London court on Monday that the publisher of the Daily Mail had "violated" her through stories about her personal life, alleging that its journalists had used information gained through unlawful methods such as tapping her landline phone.

  • January 26, 2026

    UK Fines Bank Of Scotland For Russia Sanctions Breach

    The U.K. sanctions policing body said Monday that it has fined Bank of Scotland PLC, which is wholly owned by Lloyds Banking Group, £160,000 ($218,354) for serious breaches of the government's Russia sanctions rules by allowing payments to and from the account of a sanctioned individual.

  • January 26, 2026

    Saudi Arabia Must Pay £3M To Dissident In Spyware Case

    Saudi Arabia must pay more than £3 million ($4.1 million) in damages to a human rights activist critical of the government for "the most acute intrusion" of his private life, involving phone hacking and a targeted assault, a London court ordered Monday.

  • January 26, 2026

    FCA Warns Crypto Sector Against Mistreating Consumers

    The Financial Conduct Authority has warned crypto asset businesses against providing unsuitable products to consumers in draft guidance on applying the Consumer Duty under the crypto asset regime that comes into force in 2026.

  • January 23, 2026

    Insider Trading Presumption Challenged By EU Adviser

    An investment bank does not commit insider dealing merely by executing a client's share sale, unless regulators can show the bank held inside information and acted outside its expected professional standards, an adviser to the European Union's top court has said.

  • January 23, 2026

    Danish Regulator Hits Saxo Bank With $49M AML Fine

    The Danish finance regulator said Friday that it imposed a 313 million Danish kroner ($49 million) fine on Danish bank Saxo over anti-money laundering compliance failures. 

  • January 23, 2026

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

    This past week in London saw Travelers Insurance hit with a claim from a property buyer over a payout tied to collapsed law firm Axiom Ince, Swedish music group Pophouse Entertainment clash with the production company that helped it create the ABBA Voyage experience, and biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals sue rival entity ToolGen for patent infringement.

  • January 23, 2026

    Post Office Says Settlement Could Bar Sub-Postmaster's Claim

    The Post Office said Friday that a settlement it reached with people it wrongly prosecuted might bar a former sub-postmaster from suing it over claims it fraudulently obtained a civil judgment against him over an accounting shortfall.

  • January 23, 2026

    FCA Proposes More Standards For Crypto Asset Regulation

    The Financial Conduct Authority proposed Friday further rules on how crypto asset companies should treat consumers under the new regulatory regime for digital assets due for implementation later this year.

  • January 23, 2026

    Nigeria Fails To Overturn Delay To £50M Costs Recovery Bid

    Nigeria must wait until after a costs assessment to seek an order to recover its £50 million ($68 million) legal bill from the litigation-funders of an energy company that defrauded the West African state in arbitration proceedings.

  • January 23, 2026

    Seddons Hires Financial Crime Head From Russell-Cooke

    Seddons GSC has hired Frances Murray from Russell-Cooke to launch and lead its new financial crime practice.

  • January 22, 2026

    UK Trading Co. Escapes £1.5M In Penalties For Tax Scheme

    HM Revenue & Customs lacked sufficient evidence to justify more than £1.5 million ($2 million) in penalties on a securities trading company for careless and deliberate inaccuracies on its returns linked to a tax avoidance scheme involving an employee benefit trust, the Upper Tribunal ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • How Top Court Ruling Limits Scope Of Motor Finance Claims

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    The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in a landmark case concerning car finance commissions clarifies when and how a dealership’s fiduciary duties arise, considerably narrowing that path for mass consumer litigation and highlighting how an upcoming Financial Conduct Authority redress scheme will seek to balance consumer, lender and market interests, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • FCA Misconduct Guide Will Expand Firms' Duty To Investigate

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    The Financial Conduct Authority's recent proposals on workplace nonfinancial misconduct will place a greater onus on compliance and investigations teams, clarifying that the question to ascertain is whether the behavior is justifiable and proportionate, say lawyers at Ashurst.

  • Lessons From Landmark UK Supreme Court Libor Ruling

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    The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent quashing of former traders Hayes and Palombo’s interest rate rigging convictions on the ground of jury misdirection raises concerns about failings in the criminal appeal process, and whether encouraging institutions to accept regulatory settlements can create conditions for miscarriages of justice, says Ellen Gallagher at Vardags.

  • The Int'l Compliance View: Everything Everywhere All At Once

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    Changes to the enforcement landscape in the U.S. and abroad shift the risks and incentives for global compliance programs, creating a race against the clock for companies to deploy investigative resources across worldwide operations, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Why Leveson Review Is Significant For UK Court System

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    Brian Leveson’s recent review into the U.K. criminal justice system calls for judge-only trials in serious and complex fraud cases, a controversial recommendation that is sparking debate over the future of jury trials, says Louise Hodges at Kingsley Napley.

  • Challenges Law Firms Face In Recruiting Competitor Teams

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    Since the movement of lawyer teams from a competitor can bring legal considerations and commercial risks into play, both the target and recruiting firms should be familiar with the relevant limited liability partnership deed to protect their business, say lawyers at Fox & Partners.

  • 23andMe Fine Signals ICO's New GDPR Enforcement Focus

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    Many of the cybersecurity failures identified by the Information Commissioner’s Office in its investigation of 23andMe, recently resulting in a £2.3 million fine, were basic lapses, but the ICO's focus on several new U.K. General Data Protection Regulation considerations will likely carry into the future, say lawyers at Womble Bond.

  • What New UK Stub Equity Rules Will Mean For PE Bidders

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    The U.K. Takeover Panel’s recent guide to making stub equity offers, for the first time formally harmonizing the approach to be taken, should be helpful for both private equity bidders and practitioners, and not unduly restrictive, say lawyers at Davis Polk.

  • UK FDI Enforcement Continues, But Changes Are On The Way

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    With the U.K. government’s recent foreign direct investment investigation into Maple Armor’s increased shareholding in Fireblitz demonstrating the National Security and Investment Act’s wide scope, an announcement this month that certain transactions will no longer require mandatory notification represents a welcome simplification, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.

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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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