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Corporate Crime & Compliance UK
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February 27, 2024
EX-NMC Health Group CFO Denies Knowledge Of $4.7B Fraud
The former chief financial officer of United Arab Emirates healthcare group NMC has denied he was involved in a $4.7 billion fraud that administrators allege saw cash siphoned off from the firm for himself and its founder, claiming it was concealed from him.
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February 27, 2024
Struck-Off Lawyer Claims Mental Incapacity In Prison Appeal
A struck-off solicitor on Tuesday challenged her one-year prison sentence for failing to hand over documents to a legal watchdog's investigation, telling an appellate court that proceedings should have been halted after concerns were raised about her mental capacity.
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February 27, 2024
Dyson Looks Responsible For Labor Abuses In TV Clip
A London judge ruled Tuesday that viewers of a TV news broadcast that investigated conditions in Malaysian factories manufacturing Dyson products would think that the company had some responsibility for human rights abuses, in a decision on meaning in a long-running defamation case.
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February 27, 2024
Truckmaker DAF Can't Overturn £15M Price Fixing Judgment
A London appeals court on Tuesday rejected DAF's attempt to overturn a £15.2 million ($19.3 million) judgment against the Dutch truckmaker for overcharging BT and Royal Mail, because the British companies suffered significant loss as the result of a price-fixing cartel.
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February 27, 2024
Financial Ombudsman Braced For APP Fraud Claims
Britain's financial dispute-resolution body told a cross-party group of members of Parliament on Tuesday it is braced for an avalanche of extra claims later this year when banks must recompense victims duped into transferring money to fraudsters.
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February 27, 2024
FCA To Start Naming Finance Firms Under Investigation
The Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday that it plans to publicly name the firms it probes and publish information about its investigations at an earlier stage to increase the deterrent effect of its enforcement actions.
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February 27, 2024
Abramovich Ally Loses Test Appeal To Upend UK Sanctions
A billionaire with ties to Roman Abramovich lost his attempt on Tuesday to overturn sanctions imposed on him following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the first substantive appeal to challenge the U.K. government's sanctions regime since the war began.
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February 26, 2024
Consumers Face Big Setback In £10B Mastercard Class Action
Britain's antitrust court dealt a blow to consumers Monday in a £10 billion ($12.68 billion) class action over Mastercard's fees by ruling that the credit card titan's European interchange fees didn't influence its domestic rate in the United Kingdom.
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February 26, 2024
Woman Denies Lying To Citibank To Launder Stolen Bitcoin
A British-Chinese woman accused of laundering bitcoin converted from a £5 billion ($6.32 billion) investment fraud denied Monday knowingly giving Citibank false information about her transactions, saying at her London trial that at the time she thought she was being truthful.
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February 26, 2024
1 Pilot For Billionaire Cops Plea, But 2nd Says He's Innocent
A pilot employed by British billionaire Joe Lewis pled guilty in Manhattan federal court Monday to insider trading, while counsel for a second Lewis pilot charged with profiting from illegal stock tips said his client is innocent and preparing for trial.
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February 26, 2024
Solicitor Who Lied To Cover Up Negligence Struck Off
A solicitor at a subsidiary of Irwin Mitchell who lied to cover up her negligent handling of a client's cases has been struck off by a tribunal.
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February 26, 2024
Dental Software Biz Bites Back In Infringement, Fraud Claim
A dental software company has hit back against allegations of copyright infringement from a rival, saying the other business is seeking to intimidate it and only wants to cause commercial damage to a competitor.
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February 26, 2024
10 Years And £1.6B Later, DPAs Are Only A Qualified Success
Corporate plea deals promised to transform the prosecution of bribery and corruption in Britain — but, a decade after the agreements were introduced, the jury is still out on whether they have lived up to the billing.
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February 26, 2024
Housebuilders Face Antitrust Probe Over Information-Sharing
The Competition and Markets Authority said Monday it has launched an investigation into eight housebuilders over suspicions that they might be sharing commercially sensitive information with their competitors that could influence the development and pricing of new homes.
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February 23, 2024
Barclays Must Face Trimmed Suit Over $17.6B Over-Issuance
Barclays PLC and a number of its top executives must face a trimmed version of a proposed class action over a financial reporting error that led to Barclays selling more than $17.6 billion in securities over its maximum registered amount, a New York federal judge ruled Friday.
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February 23, 2024
UN Tax Pact May Need OECD Nations' Support, Diplomats Say
The United Nations' global tax convention will likely require adoption by many advanced economies to address corporate tax abuse effectively, diplomats said, after countries resolved to pursue consensus over the long term but retain majority rule while drafting its terms of reference.
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February 23, 2024
Therium Can't Block Law Firm's Claim Over VW Scandal
A London court refused Friday to end a law firm's claim that litigation funder Therium breached a confidentiality agreement for group emissions litigation against Volkswagen, even though the case involves some facts similar to one decided by the U.K.'s top court.
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February 23, 2024
Ex-Kurdish Energy Minister Largely Fails To Ax Libel Defense
An Iraqi politician largely failed to throw out an investigative reporting organization's defense to his defamation claim, after a London judge ruled that journalists had a real chance of showing they fairly and accurately reported legal proceedings in an article about alleged corruption in the Iraqi oil business.
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February 23, 2024
Ex-Law Firm Worker Can't Nix Sanction Over Siphoned Funds
An ex-employee of a law firm failed to convince a tribunal Friday that it should overturn a restriction on his ability to work in law after he was exonerated in criminal proceedings on accusations that he had embezzled at least £89,000 ($113,000).
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February 23, 2024
Russian Tycoon Can Take Sanctions Case To UK's Top Court
An oligarch can take his attempt to halt a $850 million fraud claim brought by two Kremlin-backed banks to the U.K.'s highest court after it granted him permission to challenge a decision allowing the case to proceed despite one of the lenders being under British sanctions.
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February 23, 2024
Lawyers Question UK's Sanction Muscle 2 Years After Invasion
A lack of enforcement over suspected sanctions breaches two years on from Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left lingering doubts about the effectiveness of the U.K.'s response — even though prosecutors recently opened the first such criminal case, legal experts say.
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February 23, 2024
Serco Ordered To Dump Staff's Biometric Data
The privacy watchdog ordered Serco's health club arm on Friday to stop using facial recognition and fingerprints to identify when employees clock in to work, saying that it is an excessively intrusive use of biometric data.
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February 23, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Tesco target competing retailer Lidl with a copyright claim as they battle in the Court of Appeal over the design of Tesco’s Clubcard, the directors of a taxi business sue the creator of an AI route mapping app for professional negligence, Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers tackle an aviation claim by an Irish investment company, and Robert Bull hit with a general commercial contracts claim by Hancock Finance.
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February 23, 2024
UK Gov't Backs Plans To Expand Scope Of Anti-SLAPP Laws
The U.K. government added its backing on Friday to legislation that will prevent corrupt elites from making spurious legal claims to gag journalists and silence critics, expanding on similar rules introduced into law last year.
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February 23, 2024
Pensions Regulator To Rejig Oversight Of Workplace Schemes
The Pensions Regulator has said it will create three new regulatory functions as part of a strategic overhaul it said would meet the demands of a changing marketplace of fewer, but larger schemes.
Expert Analysis
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Directors Should Beware Reinvigorated UK Insolvency Service
The recent lengthy disqualification of Carillion directors serves as a salutary lesson to executives on the level of third-party scrutiny to which their actions may be exposed, and a reminder that the directors’ fiduciary duty to creditors is paramount once a company is irretrievably insolvent, says Ben Drew at Fladgate.
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EU Privacy Plan Finally Resolves Data Transfer Woes
Previous attempts by the European Commission to facilitate data transfers to the U.S. have been unsuccessful, but the recent EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework may bring greater legal certainty through new control mechanisms and clearer supervisory authority functions, say Joaquín Muñoz and Robbie Morrison at Bird & Bird.
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The New Accountability Landscape For Financial Regulators
The preliminary-stage success of a group of U.K. lawmakers in a case against the Financial Conduct Authority highlights the significant hurdles for review of regulatory actions, but the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 creates additional visibility into the regulators' decision making, which may lead to an increase in judicial review activity, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Director Responsibilities Amid Russian Asset Seizures
Following Russia's recent takeover of several companies, shareholders may argue that directors failed to properly guard the companies' assets and choose to bring derivative claims or unfair prejudice petitions, say lawyers at Collyer Bristow.
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Investors Should Prepare For Possible EU Energy Treaty Exit
Following the European Commission’s recent call for the European Union and Euratom to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, investors in the energy sector should assess the legal structure of their existing investments and consider restructuring to ensure adequate protections, says Philipp Kurek at Kirkland.
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EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach
The European Commission's recent record-breaking fine on Illumina for acquiring Grail without approval underscores its tough stance on merger control enforcement, showing that companies in Europe need to be vigilant in complying with regulatory requirements, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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EU Raw Materials Initiative Vital For Sustainable Value Chains
The European Commission’s recent steps toward developing partnerships with the U.S. and Argentina to ensure a secure supply of critical raw materials are a welcome recognition of the importance of mining to the European Union's sustainable transition, say lawyers at Watson Farley.
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A Cross-Border Data Refresher After New EU-US Framework
Following the recent release of an updated EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, Jack Hobaugh at Brownstein Hyatt discusses the complicated question of what is and is not a cross-border transfer of information under the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
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UK Top Court Ruling Spells Uncertainty For Litigation Funders
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Paccar Inc. v. Competition Appeal Tribunal has called litigation funding agreements impermissible, causing astonishment in the legal industry and raising questions over how funders should now approach litigation, say Mohsin Patel at Factor Risk Management and Imran Benson at Hailsham Chambers.
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UK Task Force Report Focuses Digitization Of Shares Process
The U.K. Digitization Task Force’s recently published interim recommendations on the U.K. shareholding framework are helpful in the push toward improving the share ownership system, following overwhelming support from stakeholders to eradicate paper processes, say lawyers at Davis Polk.
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Gender Diverse Boards May Reduce Corporate Fraud Risk
Following the recently proposed "failure to prevent fraud" offense, companies should focus on diversity in leadership as research shows that an increase in women's representation on boards is associated with a decreased probability of fraud, say Anoushka Warlow and Suzanne Gallagher at BCL Solicitors.
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EU Privacy Framework Will Aid Int'l Data Transfer Compliance
The underlying certification mechanism in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework recently adopted by the European Commission has pros and cons, and by understanding its mechanics businesses and organizations can grasp the means to ensure General Data Protection Regulation compliance in their data transfers, say lawyers at Chiomenti.
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Opinion
Plea For A New Int'l Tribunal For Russia's Crime Of Aggression
Legal experts worldwide should support the International Bar Association and other organizations calling for a United Nations special criminal tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, or risk standing by as war atrocities and threats to global security increase, says Olga Kostina at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
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Protecting Reputation In The Age Of Shareholder Activism
With the rise in investors using equity ownership to influence the management of a company, shareholder activism has taken on fresh impetus, and general counsel have a critical part to play in safeguarding an organization's reputation by engaging in open communication and implementing effective corporate governance, says Neil McLeod at The PHA Group.
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Factors Driving Increased Litigation Against European Cos.
European government regulation and enforcement, economic inflation and litigation funding are driving an increase in litigation, especially class actions, against corporations in Europe, a trend that seems to be here to stay, says Henning Schaloske at Clyde & Co.