Corporate Crime & Compliance UK

  • November 14, 2025

    Italian Police Seize Assets In €260M VAT Fraud Probe

    Italian financial police seized corporate assets Friday as part of an investigation into a criminal ring suspected of evading €260 million ($302 million) in value-added taxes on fuel, European Union authorities said.

  • November 14, 2025

    Trafigura's $600M Fraud Trial To Test Metals-Trading Practices

    Metals magnate Prateek Gupta will face trial in London on Nov. 17 over allegations that he and his companies perpetrated "systematic fraud" against Trafigura, with the trading company alleging that Gupta cheated it out of $600 million in a nickel fraud scheme.

  • November 14, 2025

    Billionaire Used Spy To Extract Privileged Info From Solicitor

    Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego used a private intelligence agent to dupe a law firm partner into divulging privileged and confidential information about a man Salinas claims defrauded him out of more than $415 million, a London court has found.

  • November 14, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Freeths face a professional negligence claim from a Scottish car dealership, Rolls-Royce sue logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel, and a team of Oberon Investments Group investment managers sued by their former employer.  

  • November 14, 2025

    VietJet Avoids Criminal Contempt Claim In Aircraft Dispute

    A subsidiary of an international private investment company cannot pursue a Vietnamese budget airline for contempt of court, after the Court of Appeal held Friday the airline cannot be criminally liable for conduct not prohibited by an injunction protecting the company's aircraft.

  • November 14, 2025

    EU Court Upholds Sanctions On Relative Of Syria's Assad

    A second cousin of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has lost a bid to lift sanctions against him as the European Union's top court rejected his argument that the bloc's decision to sanction him on the grounds of his family connection was unfair.

  • November 14, 2025

    EU To Boost Cooperation Among Enforcers To Fight Tax Fraud

    The European Union pledged on Friday to bolster its fight against massive tax fraud that costs approximately €89 billion ($103 billion) across the bloc each year by rolling out a plan to deepen cross-border cooperation.

  • November 14, 2025

    How Mishcon Helped Uncover £5.6B Money Laundering Plot

    Law360 examines here how a suspicious activity report raised by Mishcon de Reya about a client's attempted transactions served as the catalyst for one of the biggest cryptocurrency seizures in British history.

  • November 14, 2025

    Denmark Has Until Dec. 12 To Appeal £1.4B Cum-Ex Defeat

    Denmark has 28 days to try to revive its £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) case over a tax fraud allegedly orchestrated by convicted hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah, a judge said Friday as he gave full reasons for refusing permission to appeal.

  • November 14, 2025

    BHP Found Liable In £36B Brazil Dam Collapse Case

    BHP can be held liable in a £36 billion ($47 million) claim for the collapse of a dam in Brazil that triggered the country's worst environmental crisis, a High Court judge ruled Friday, handing a major win to lawyers representing more than 640,000 individuals.

  • November 13, 2025

    Trump To Pardon UK Billionaire Lewis For Insider Trading

    President Donald Trump has agreed to pardon 88-year-old British billionaire Joseph Lewis, who was sentenced to three years of probation for feeding nonpublic stock tips to his girlfriend and private-jet pilots.

  • November 13, 2025

    Carter-Ruck Test Case Could Redefine SRA's Privilege Rights

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority is facing an unprecedented court challenge from Carter-Ruck to its power to force law firms to hand over privileged documents, a case that could embolden clients to refuse consent far more frequently and force legislative reform.

  • November 13, 2025

    Fed Frees SocGen, ICBC From 2018 Enforcement Orders

    The Federal Reserve said Thursday it has lifted a pair of 2018 consent orders against Société Générale SA and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ending long-running enforcement actions tied to alleged sanctions violations at the former and alleged anti-money-laundering deficiencies at the latter.

  • November 13, 2025

    Businessman Too Late To Challenge £5M Tax Evasion Penalty

    A businessman's attempt to challenge a civil value-added tax evasion penalty of almost £5 million ($6.6 million) was refused because it was launched in breach of the time limit for appeals, a London tribunal ruled.

  • November 13, 2025

    Red Bull Faces EU Probe Over Market Abuse Allegations

    The European Commission said Thursday that it had opened an antitrust probe into Red Bull GmbH, saying the energy drink giant may have abused its dominance over the market by trying to stop competing drinks from being sold at retailers.

  • November 13, 2025

    VTB Says OFSI Destroyed Its £188M UK Unit Recovery

    Russia's VTB Bank argued at a London court Thursday that the U.K.'s sanctions authority had wrongly attempted to block it from recovering anything from the administration of its British subsidiary, arguing that it should have been given a chance to make its case.

  • November 13, 2025

    Shein Wins Stay On £5.8M Tax Fraud Case Pending Arbitration

    Fashion retailer Shein won a bid on Thursday to stay a £5.8 million ($7.7 million) tax fraud case brought by a U.K. customs clearance company, ahead of arbitration proceedings in which Shein is fighting to recover £1.5 million.

  • November 13, 2025

    Solicitor General Hails SFO's 'Innovative' First Wealth Order

    The Solicitor General for England and Wales praised the Serious Fraud Office on Thursday for its first use of an unexplained wealth order to seize £1.1 million ($1.44 million), adding that the government plans to invest millions of pounds to expand the agency.

  • November 13, 2025

    Ex-Reed Smith Lawyer Faces SDT Over Claims He Misled Firm

    A former associate at Reed Smith LLP in the Middle East has been referred to a disciplinary tribunal after he allegedly submitted misleading information to the firm, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.

  • November 12, 2025

    UK Banker Bonus Changes Could Boost Treasury Coffers

    The U.K.'s relaxation of bonus rules for bankers may result in a tax windfall for HM Treasury along with what financial advisers expect to be a rise in the use of certain investment planning strategies, particularly those used to fund startups.

  • November 12, 2025

    HMRC Hikes Business Fees For Supervising AML Compliance

    The U.K. tax authority disclosed Wednesday that it will be increasing the fees it charges businesses to cover the cost of supervising them for compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.

  • November 12, 2025

    Tech Exec Denies Lying About CEO's Links To Russia

    A former executive at a technology company has denied spreading defamatory lies about its chief executive's alleged ties to Russian intelligence, telling a London court that his remarks were both true and in the public interest.

  • November 12, 2025

    UK Proposes New Cybersecurity Laws To Guard Vital Services

    The government revealed Wednesday that it will table a battery of new laws to beef up the country's cyber-security defenses for essential public services like healthcare, drinking water, transport and energy.

  • November 12, 2025

    FCA Oversight Spells Tougher AML Scrutiny For Law Firms

    The Financial Conduct Authority's new powers to police lawyers and other professionals could place law firms under a heightened supervisory regime similar to that of banks and other high-risk financial institutions, experts say.

  • November 12, 2025

    HMRC Charges London Gallery With Russia Sanctions Breach

    Britain's revenue authority accused the London branch of an international art gallery and a logistics company on Wednesday of breaching criminal sanctions that prevent the export of luxury goods to Russia by providing a contemporary art painting to a Russian collector.

Expert Analysis

  • EU Act Establishes Data Sharing Rules, But Hurdles Remain

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    The recently effective European Union Data Act provisions establish harmonized rules to unlock the use of data generated by technology-embedded software, but leave practical challenges that organizations will need to navigate to comply with cross-border requirements, say lawyers at King & Spalding.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Arbitrator's Conviction Upheld

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    The Supreme Court of Spain recently upheld the criminal conviction of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa for grave disobedience to judicial authority, rejecting the proposition that an arbitrator's independence can prevail over a court order retroactively disabling the very judicial act conferring arbitral jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Reviewing EU Competition Policy 1 Year After Draghi's Report

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    Implementation of the Mario Draghi report’s proposals to revamp European Union competition policy is currently case-specific, making it less visible, and more needs to be done in the way of merger review and antitrust enforcement, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • 5 Ways To Address The Legal Risks Of Employee AI Use

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    Employees’ use of unauthorized artificial intelligence tools has become a regulatory issue, and in-house legal counsel are best placed to close the gap between governance controls and innovation, mitigating the risk of organizations' exposure to noncompliance with European Union and U.K. data protection requirements, say lawyers at MoFo.

  • Opinion

    New US-UK Tech Deal Offers Opportunities To Boost Growth

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    The recently announced U.S. and U.K. Technology Prosperity Deal, encouraging businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to work together toward technological advance, will drive both investment in U.K. capabilities and returns for U.S. investors, says Peter Watts at Hogan Lovells.

  • What Draft AML Reforms Mean For UK Financial Sector

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    HM Treasury’s recently published draft regulations amending the U.K. Money Laundering Regulations, although not as material as expected, are a step toward a targeted risk-based approach, which the industry will welcome, say lawyers at Ropes & Gray.

  • What Key EU Data Ruling Means For Cross-Border Transfers

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    The European Union Court of Justice’s recent judgment in European Data Protection Supervisor v. Single Resolution Board takes a recipient-specific approach concerning pseudonymized information, but financial services firms making international transfers should follow the draft EU Data Protection Board guidelines’ current stricter approach, says Nathalie Moreno at Kennedys Law.

  • EU-US Data Transfer Ruling Offers Reassurance To Cos.

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    The European Union General Court’s recent upholding of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in Latombe v. European Commission, although subject to appeal, provides companies with legal certainty for the first time by allowing the transfer of European Economic Area personal data without relying on alternative mechanisms, say lawyers at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Supreme Court Ruling Stands Firm On Trust Law Principles

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    The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent strict application of trust law in Stevens v. Hotel Portfolio may render it more difficult for lawyers in future cases to make arguments based on a holistic assessment of the facts, says Olivia Retter at Quinn Emanuel.

  • FCA's Woodford Fine Sends Warning To Fund Managers

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent decisions concerning Neil Woodford and the collapse of Woodford Investment Management mark an important moment for the U.K. investment industry, underscoring the regulator's focus on senior managers' personal accountability and the importance of putting investors’ interests at the heart of decision-making, say lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.

  • How Data Use Act Tightens Complaint Handling Procedures

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    Recently effective Data Use Act procedural requirements are coinciding with an artificial intelligence-driven increase in complaints from users about data subject access request responses, so organizations need to formalize their grievance process to prevent intervention by the Information Commissioner's Office and potential penalties, say lawyers at Womble Bond.

  • UK Supreme Court Dissent May Spark Sanctions Debate

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    While the recent U.K. Supreme Court's rejection of Eugene Shvidler’s appeal determined that sanctions decisions are primarily the government’s preserve, Justice Leggatt’s dissenting view that judges are better placed to assess proportionality will cause ripples and may mark a material shift in how future appeals are approached, say lawyers at Seladore.

  • What EBA Report Means For Non-EU Financial Firms

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    In a recent report concerning unregulated third country banks, the European Banking Authority decided not to extend a bank-to-bank exemption under the Capital Requirements Directive, raising a number of compliance issues for cross-border services, say lawyers at A&O Shearman.

  • HMRC's Automation Shift Likely To Alter Tax Adviser Role

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    HM Revenue & Customs’ recently released digital transformation road map promises greater efficiency and a modernized compliance regime, but the increased automation could also mean that the tax adviser role will become more proactive and more defensive, say lawyers at RPC.

  • What UK's New Prosecution Guidance Means For Compliance

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    Recent guidance from the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office and Crown Prosecution Service, aligning their approach with the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, offers a timely prompt for corporate boards and legal teams to update their risk management frameworks, say lawyers at Signature Litigation.

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