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Corporate Crime & Compliance UK
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February 12, 2025
Axiom Ince Execs' Fraud Trial Over Collapse Set For 2027
Five former leaders of Axiom Ince are to stand trial in 2027 over allegations they committed fraud and covered up their wrongdoing during a regulatory probe into the law firm, which collapsed with a hole of more than £60 million ($74.4 million) in its client accounts.
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February 12, 2025
Arena Liquidators Challenge Lloyds' Directors' Authority Defense
Arena Television's liquidators have dismissed Lloyds Bank's defense to allegations it processed payments linked to a £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) fraud, saying the bank's claim it was acting on the instructions of directors who were authorized to make the payments is "unsustainable."
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February 12, 2025
Close Brothers Sets Aside £165M For Car Finance Probe
London merchant bank Close Brothers said Wednesday that it plans to set aside £165 million ($205 million) to cover potential costs stemming from a Financial Conduct Authority probe into motor finance commission agreements and a related appeal at the U.K.'s top court.
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February 12, 2025
UK Supreme Court Bars Trader's Extradition To The US
Britain's highest court has barred the extradition of a British-Lebanese trader to the U.S. over insider dealing allegations, finding on Wednesday that the charges he faced for allegedly doling out lavish gifts in exchange for tips occurred in Britain.
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February 11, 2025
£5.5B Tax Evasion Could Be 'Tip Of Iceberg,' Watchdog Warns
The £5.5 billion ($6.8 billion) annual cost of tax evasion drawn up by HM Revenue and Customs is probably "vastly underestimated" — and the authority has no plan to tackle the gap in the public purse, the government's spending watchdog warned Wednesday.
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February 11, 2025
Vacuum Or Trap? What Trump's FCPA Halt Means For SFO
U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to stop enforcing bribery laws against American companies creates a potential vacuum for the Serious Fraud Office to fill, though lawyers caution that prosecuting U.S. companies could prove a political hazard for the U.K. enforcement agency.
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February 11, 2025
Met Office Process For Tackling Sexual Misconduct Upended
A London court ruled Tuesday that the Met's process to pull clearance for police officers accused of sexual misconduct is unlawful, leaving the force in what it called "a hopeless position" to tackle unfit officers after Wayne Couzens' rape and murder conviction.
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February 11, 2025
BT Fends Off Customers' Bid To Revive £1.3B Class Action
A group of BT landline customers have failed to revive a £1.3 billion ($2 billion) class action against the telecom giant, after a competition tribunal refused Tuesday to allow an appeal against the first substantive ruling deciding a U.K. collective proceedings order claim.
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February 11, 2025
StanChart Bids To Slash £762M From UK Investor Claim
Standard Chartered urged the High Court on Tuesday to strike out claims from passive investors worth £762 million ($943 million) in litigation accusing the bank of making untrue or misleading market statements about its sanctions noncompliance.
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February 11, 2025
Tribunal To Consider If FCA Has Equality Duty In Cum-Ex Row
The U.K.'s Upper Tribunal will hold a preliminary hearing to decide whether the Financial Conduct Authority has a duty to not discriminate when it fined and banned a cum-ex trader from the industry, according to a tribunal decision published Tuesday.
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February 11, 2025
Barclays Sued Over Staffer's Alleged Role In $643K Fraud
A Singaporean fire safety business has sued Barclays Bank PLC over an elaborate fraud that caused it to send $643,000, alleging that a bank employee was involved in the plot to dupe it into transferring funds to criminals.
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February 11, 2025
Procurement Biz Blocks Disclosure In Byju's $533M Debt Fight
A London judge on Tuesday ruled it would be oppressive to force a U.K. procurement company to provide evidence related to an allegedly fraudulent $533 million transaction for Delaware court proceedings involving the bankrupt U.S. subsidiary of Indian educational tech firm Byju's.
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February 11, 2025
MPs' WhatsApp Scandal A Cautionary Tale On Privacy At Work
The sanctioning of two Labour members of Parliament for offensive comments made in a group chat is a reminder that what happens on WhatsApp is not private, employment law experts have warned.
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February 10, 2025
Pension Execs Found Liable In $2B Danish Tax Fraud Case
A New York federal jury found Monday by "clear and convincing evidence" that Denmark's tax agency reasonably relied on the false statements made on pension plan applications that were part of a $2.1 billion tax fraud scheme by pension plan executives.
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February 10, 2025
Financier Bids To Resurrect HMRC Bungled Prosecution Claim
A corporate financier sought permission Monday to challenge a decision to dismiss his claim against HM Revenue and Customs and the Crown Prosecution Service for wrongly prosecuting him, arguing that the judge had failed to properly consider the evidence.
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February 10, 2025
Film Executives Ran £13M VAT Fraud, Prosecutors Tell Jury
Four former managers at a film production company best known for "Avatar" cheated taxpayers out of £13 million ($16.14 million) through a "convoluted" VAT scheme run out of the back garden of a modest home in London, prosecutors told a jury on Monday.
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February 10, 2025
Billionaire's Daughter Mothballs Purchase Of Infested Mansion
The daughter of a Georgian billionaire and her husband can hand back a £32.5 million ($40 million) London mansion infested with "millions of moths" after a judge found on Monday that the property seller hid the problem.
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February 10, 2025
Gov't Prompted To Prioritize Fighting Economic Crime
The U.K. government was urged by a financial services group on Monday to spend more on fighting economic crime and to require that tech companies contribute to fraud reimbursement.
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February 10, 2025
Property Boss' Brother Denies Dodging £13M Fraud Recovery
The brother of a property tycoon who funneled £13 million ($16 million) out of his family business has hit back at claims that he transferred his shares from an investment venture to escape attempts to recover funds dissipated from the fraud.
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February 10, 2025
BoE Sets Out Pro-Growth Priorities For Finance Infrastructure
The Bank of England this year will focus on regulating financial market infrastructures to help underpin growth, as it benefits from technology such as artificial intelligence, a senior BoE official said Monday.
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February 07, 2025
Ousted CMA Chair Says 'Misinformation' Remains A Challenge
The recently ousted chair of the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority reflected on what he said were great strides undoing the antitrust agency's "technocratic" character, but added it made the least progress in combating "lobbying and misinformation" intended to undermine the agency's decisions, including around the cleared Microsoft-Activision merger.
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February 07, 2025
Pharmacy Chain Says Seller Inflated Value In £10M M&A Deal
A Yorkshire-based pharmacy chain has brought a £9.9 million ($12.3 million) claim in a London court against the previous owners of a group of pharmacy companies it acquired, alleging they made dishonest statements about the group's finances.
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February 07, 2025
UAE Prisoner Subpoenas Ex-Dechert GC Over Torture Claims
A Jordanian lawyer imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates has subpoenaed Dechert's former general counsel in the U.S. over what the law firm's top brass knew of alleged human rights abuses said to have been committed by a former partner.
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February 07, 2025
Sheikh Must Pay Costs Or Lose Defense To Inheritance Fight
An Emirati royal accused of embezzling more than $1 billion from his dead father must pay a £90,000 ($112,000) costs order in British proceedings or be blocked from defending his brothers' fight to enforce a £75 million UAE judgment in England.
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February 07, 2025
Woman In Spy Trial Denies Coordinating Far-Right Sticker Plot
A woman accused of spying for Russia denied at her trial on Friday that she had directed her best friend to deface Jewish and Russian monuments in Austria with far-right symbols to make it look like the work of supporters of Ukraine.
Expert Analysis
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What New UK Code Of Conduct Will Mean For Directors
The Institute of Directors’ new voluntary code of conduct is intended to help directors make better decisions and enable U.K. businesses to win back eroded public trust, although, with no formal means of enforcement, its effectiveness could be limited, says Sarah Turner at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Russian Bankruptcy Ruling Shows Importance Of Jurisdiction
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision not to assist a Russian receiver in Kireeva v. Bedzhamov will be of particular interest in cross-border insolvency proceedings, where attention must be paid to assets outside the jurisdiction, and to creditors, who must consider carefully where to apply for a bankruptcy order, say lawyers at McDermott.
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Key Points From Trade Sanctions Office 'No-Russia' Guidance
The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation’s recent guidance provides best practice suggestions that can help businesses mitigate the risk of their exports being targeted by Russian circumvention efforts, while noting that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to compliance, says Alexandra Melia at Steptoe.
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How Board Directors Can Adapt To Shifting Governance Tides
With European Union regulatory initiatives trending toward a sharp focus on ESG reporting requirements and ramping up pressure on corporate boards, directors should play a more active part in ensuring business objectives are aligned with regulatory demands, says Kallia Gavela at Alvarez & Marsal.
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How Listing Act Measures Will Modernize EU Capital Markets
The new European Union Listing Act, in line with the capital markets union initiative, aims to simplify market access for small and midsize enterprises, laying a foundation for a more integrated framework and representing a modernization milestone, say lawyers at Cleary.
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Forced Labor Imports Raise Criminal Risks For UK Retailers
Last summer’s London appeals court ruling applying the Proceeds of Crime Act to products made with forced labor, potential legislative reforms and recent BBC allegations about Chinese produce harvested by Uyghur detainees suggest British importers and retailers should increase scrutiny of their supply chains, says Ian Hargreaves at Quillon Law.
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Insider Info Compliance Highlights From New FCA Guidance
The Financial Conduct Authority's recent guidance to companies on identifying inside information clarifies the regulator's expectation of case-by-case assessment, helpfully highlighting that abuse of U.K.-regulated markets can arise earlier than some might think, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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EU's AI Act May Lead To More M&A Arbitration
With the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act and its stiff penalties beginning to take effect, companies acquiring AI targets should pay close attention to the provisions in the dispute resolution clauses of their deal documents, say Nelson Goh at Pallas Partners and Benjamin Qiu at EKLJ.
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A Look At PCAOB's Record-Breaking Enforcement In 2024
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in 2024 brought more enforcement actions against auditors and imposed increasingly higher monetary penalties, showing that it was not afraid to exercise its power to fine and reprimand firms, a trend that will likely continue in 2025, say attorneys at Briglia Hundley.
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Key Points From EU's Latest FDI Screening Regulation Review
The European Commission’s recent assessment of the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation indicates that with strong control here to stay, precautionary filings are likely to remain necessary, and member states should prepare for greater rule alignment to reduce inefficiencies caused by a current lack of synchronization, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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UK Businesses Need To Plan For Accessibility Act Compliance
With the European Accessibility Act’s compliance deadline approaching this June, U.K. businesses trading in the European Union need to think broadly in addressing its requirements to ensure equality of access to the digital world, says Louisa Chambers at Travers Smith.
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Interpreting Newly Released Consumer Fraud Complaints Data
The Financial Ombudsman Service’s latest complaint data focuses on scams and customer service, and demonstrates that as fraud is becoming rapidly more complex, financial regulators need to acknowledge that technology is here to stay and work together with firms to protect consumers, say lawyers at RPC.
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Applying New FCA Guidance On Control Of Financial Firms
Buyers seeking to acquire or increase their stakes in U.K. financial services firms can streamline prudential review of their transactions by understanding the Financial Conduct Authority’s recently published guidance on updated change-in-control regulations, says Mark Chalmers at Davis Polk.
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How Lawyers Can Work On Unmasking Beneficial Ownership
The Solicitors Regulation Authority's recent anti-money laundering report suggests that identifying ultimate beneficial owners in a transaction is one of the key day-to-day challenges that law firms face, and the solution lies in combining know-your-business processes with know-your-client verification, says Sam Ruback at Thirdfort.
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Anticipating The UK's Top M&A Trends In 2025
Conversations with market participants are focusing on five key questions about 2025's transactional markets, ranging from issues of artificial intelligence, to the boom in takeovers and increased regulatory scrutiny, says Layla D’Monte at King & Spalding.