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Corporate Crime & Compliance UK
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May 29, 2024
Russian Billionaire Beats Sanctions Over Lack Of Evidence
The European Union lacked justification to sanction billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov following Russia's invasion of Ukraine since there's no credible evidence he's a leading figure in economic industries vital to the government, an EU court ruled Wednesday.
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May 29, 2024
Barrister Fined For Not Disclosing SRA Investigation
A lawyer was fined £5,000 ($6,360) Wednesday for not informing the barrister's regulator of an investigation into him by the Solicitors Regulation Authority over a failure to safeguard client information and assets by a law firm he ran.
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May 29, 2024
Belarus Airline Can't Curb Sanctions Over Lukashenko Ties
The General Court of the European Union upheld sanctions against a Belarusian airline on Wednesday, ruling that the carrier is backed by President Alexander Lukashenko and helped to facilitate the illegal entry of migrants from the Middle East into the bloc.
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May 29, 2024
FCA Warns Firms To Prepare Better For Disrupted Operations
The Financial Conduct Authority has warned businesses that some are taking the wrong approach to maintaining operation of important services during a crisis, such as after a cyberattack.
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May 28, 2024
Autonomy Founder Says HP 'Panicked,' Tried To Unwind Deal
Autonomy founder Michael Lynch testified Tuesday in a California federal criminal trial over claims he conned HP into overpaying for his company that HP's board "panicked" after news of the acquisition leaked and HP's stock dropped 20%, that HP fired its CEO and that it attempted to back out of the deal.
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May 28, 2024
RBS, Lloyds Bank, Others Ink $1.9M Libor Settlement
A group of plaintiffs in the yearslong suit alleging several big banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, have reached a $1.9 million settlement with the Royal Banks of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and others, bringing the total settlement recovery amount to more than $780 million.
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May 28, 2024
Property Firm Fined £12K For Anti-Money Laundering Failures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority fined a London property solicitors £12,777 ($16,300) after the firm carried out transactions for partners and their family members without appropriate anti-money laundering policies.
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May 28, 2024
Major Insurers Face £472M Claim For Russia-Stranded Planes
An aircraft lessor has brought a £472 million ($604 million) claim against dozens of major insurers over planes stranded since the invasion of Ukraine, following a landmark London court ruling that blocked attempts to move similar cases to Russia.
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May 28, 2024
Police To Expand Criminal Probe Into Post Office Scandal
The criminal investigation into the Post Office IT scandal will be expanded to examine whether senior executives should be charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, the Metropolitan Police said Tuesday, the latest chapter in the major miscarriage of justice.
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May 28, 2024
UK Gov't Faces Threat Of Fresh Infected-Blood Litigation
Lawyers representing victims of the infected blood scandal have said they could restart civil litigation against the government unless it accepts findings that officials failed to warn the public of the risks of treatment and keep patients safe.
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May 28, 2024
EU Investment Firms Told To Upgrade Marketing Reports
The European Union's financial markets regulator has said that investment firms should improve their marketing disclosures to investors, calling on national watchdogs to act against rule-breakers.
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May 24, 2024
The UK Laws That Will Pass Or Fail As Election Looms
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election to be held on July 4 has left several pieces of legislation hanging in the balance during the so-called "wash-up" period before Parliament is formally dissolved, while others have been pushed through.
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May 24, 2024
UK's 2nd CPO Settlement Points To More Scrutiny On Payouts
Britain's competition tribunal scrutinized how the U.K.'s second-ever class action settlement will be handed out to rail passengers before approving the deal, shedding light on what information it will expect to see before signing off on future settlements.
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May 24, 2024
Labour Gov't Could Force Big Tech Into Fraud Repayments
A potential new Labour government means a turning point in tackling financial fraud if it should force big tech companies like Meta and Google to join banks in having to reimburse customers duped into sending fraudsters money, according to lawyers.
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May 24, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen an IT engineer seek permission to search a landfill hiding a hard drive supposedly storing millions of pounds in bitcoin, Glencore take on legal action by American Century Investments, gold payment app Glint bring a breach of duty claim against FRP Advisory, and an ongoing dispute between a solicitor and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 24, 2024
Banking 'Selfie' Fraudster Gets 3 Years In Prison
A fraudster was handed a three-year prison sentence for making fake applications to obtain loans and pensions potentially losing banks around £178,000 ($227,000), the Crown Prosecution Service announced Friday.
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May 24, 2024
FCA Bans Two Advisers Accused Of Misleading Clients
The Financial Conduct Authority has banned two advisers from working in financial services for "recklessly" exposing pension holders to high-risk investments, the regulator said Friday.
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May 24, 2024
Ex-Post Office Boss Blames Scandal On Bad Legal Advice
Paula Vennells blamed the advice of her senior lawyers for not becoming aware of the wrongful prosecutions by the Post Office of innocent people based on faulty IT data, as she gave evidence to the inquiry into the scandal Friday.
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May 24, 2024
PE Firm, Pharma Cos. Overturn £31M Drug Price-Fixing Fines
Private equity group Cinven and three pharmaceutical companies have successfully overturned a decision by the U.K. antitrust regulator to fine them £31 million ($39 million) for allegedly fixing the price of drugs sold to the National Health Service.
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May 24, 2024
Woman Imprisoned For Laundering From $5B Bitcoin Fraud
A British-Chinese woman was imprisoned for more than six years on Friday at a London court for laundering bitcoin converted from an alleged £5 billion ($6.3 billion) investment fraud.
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May 24, 2024
Plans To Cut Crown Court Backlog 'Can't Be Achieved'
Proposals to cut the Crown Court backlog to 53,000 cases by March 2025 are no longer attainable as the number has ballooned to the highest level ever recorded, a damning report by the public sector spending watchdog revealed on Friday.
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May 23, 2024
EU Fines Mondelez €338M For Curbing Snack Competition
The European Commission on Thursday fined U.S.-headquartered multinational snack company Mondelez International Inc. €337.5 million ($365.74 million) for entering into anticompetitive trade agreements with resellers and abusing its position as a chocolate giant to maintain high prices.
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May 23, 2024
Ex-Post Office Boss Told Reviewing Cases Would Be Bad PR
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells denied that avoiding becoming "front page news" influenced her decision to limit a review of past convictions based on faulty IT data in her evidence to the inquiry into the Post Office scandal on Thursday.
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May 23, 2024
Insurer Warns Of Surge In 'Crash For Cash' Fraud
Insurer Allianz UK has urged motorists to watch out for dangerous scams, as it warned of a 6,250% rise in 2023 of "crashes" involving motorbikes and scooters.
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May 23, 2024
Investec Sets Aside £30M For FCA Motor Finance Review
Investec PLC has put aside £30 million ($38 million) as the banking group faces the Financial Conduct Authority's industry-wide motor finance review, according to the company's report for financial year 2024 published Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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EU Inquiry Offers First Insight Into Foreign Subsidy Law
The European Commission's first in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into a public procurement process, and subsequent brief on regulatory trends, sheds light on the commission's approach to such cases, as well as jurisdictional, procedural and substantive issues under the regulation, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.
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Opinion
PACCAR Should Be 1st Step To Regulating Litigation Funders
Rather than reversing the U.K. Supreme Court's well-reasoned judgment in PACCAR v. Competition Appeal Tribunal, imposing a regulatory regime on litigation funders in parity with that of lawyers, legislators should build upon it to create a more transparent, competitive and fairer funding industry, says Rosa Curling at Foxglove.
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EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers
The recent statement confirming European Economic Area equivalence to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities for U.K. overseas funds regime purposes removes many managers’ concerns in the wake of Brexit, giving a clear pathway out of temporary marketing permissions and easing the transition from one regime to another, says Catherine Weeks at Simmons & Simmons.
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In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law
A trilogy of recent cases in the English High Court and Court of Appeal highlight the importance of parties agreeing to explicit choice of law language at the outset of an arbitration agreement in order to avoid costly legal skirmishes down the road, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.
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Post Office Scandal Stresses Key Directors Duties Lessons
The Post Office scandal, involving hundreds of wrongful convictions of subpostmasters based on an IT failure, offers lessons for company directors on the magnitude of the impact that a failure to fulfill their duties can have on employees and the company, says Simon Goldberg at Simons Muirhead.
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Employer Tips For Handling Data Subject Access Requests
As employers face numerous employee data-subject access requests — and the attendant risks of complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office — issues such as managing deadlines and sifting through data make compliance more difficult, highlighting the importance of efficient internal processes and clear communication when responding to a request, say Gwynneth Tan and Amy Leech at Shoosmiths.
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Comparing UK And EU's View On 3rd-Party Service Providers
The U.K. is taking welcome steps to address the lack of direct oversight over critical third-party service providers, and although less onerous than that of the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, the U.K. regime's proportionate approach is designed to make providers more robust and reliable, say lawyers at Shearman.
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CMA Road Map Helps Cos. Prepare For UK Digital Markets Bill
Although only provisional, the recent publication of the Competition and Markets Authority's road map for the implementation of the U.K. Digital Markets Bill demonstrates that the regulator is keen to reassure Parliament that it takes accountability seriously, and that there will be sufficient safeguards in place regarding its decision making, say lawyers at Morgan Lewis.
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Opinion
European Union Criticisms Of The FCPA Are Misguided
Some in the European Union have criticized U.S. enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for what they perceive as jurisdictional overreach, but this appears to overlook the crucial fact that jurisdiction is voluntary, and critics should focus instead on the lack of equivalent laws in their own region, say John Joy and YuTong Wang at FTI Law.
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Key Points Of BoE Response To Digital Pound Consultation
Lawyers at Hogan Lovells analyze the recent Bank of England and U.K. government response to a consultation on the launch of a digital pound, finding that the phased approach to evaluating the issues makes sense given the significant potential impact on the U.K. economy.
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Bribery Class Action Ruling May Revive Bifurcated Processes
The Court of Appeal's recent decision allowing the representative bribery action in Commission Recovery v. Marks & Clerk offers renewed hope for claimants to advance class claims using a bifurcated process amid its general absence as of late, say Jon Gale and Justin Browne at Ashurst.
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Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength
The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.
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Whistleblower Pay Is A Risky Path For The SFO To Tread
In a recent speech, Serious Fraud Office director Nick Ephgrave supported the payment of whistleblowers, but implementing such an extreme measure is potentially hazardous and could leave the new director a hostage to fortune, says Richard Cannon at Stokoe Partnership.
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The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime
Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.