Introduction As anticipated in our previous horizon scan (see here), the end of 2023 has brought about significant developments in financial crime enforcement and a real focus on fraud. Looking ahead to 2024, we predict that developments affecting organisations doing business in the UK will include: a focus from organisations on fraud, in particular preparing … Continue Reading
Following the enactment of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) last month, the UK Government has proposed in the Criminal Justice Bill (CJB) (here) to extend the scope of corporate liability for senior managers beyond certain economic offences to all UK criminal offences. Reform of economic crime laws was originally proposed by … Continue Reading
A new “failure to prevent fraud” offence has been introduced as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (the Act). The Act has received Royal Assent, and although timing for implementation is unclear, it is expected that the new offence could come into force during early 2024. This forms part of broader reforms of UK corporate … Continue Reading
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the Act), which includes the failure to prevent fraud offence (the FTPF Offence), has received Royal Assent. Overview The FTPF Offence will make an organisation liable if it fails to prevent a specified fraud offence from being committed where: (i) an employee or agent commits the fraud; … Continue Reading
The next round of the consideration of the new failure to prevent fraud offence (the FTPF Offence), proposed as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill), saw the House of Lords push back again on restricting application of the offence to large organisations only. The proposal, which the House of Lords … Continue Reading
The Home Office announced last week that it will conduct an independent review of the criminal disclosure regime and the challenges that arise in fraud investigations (the Review). The Review comes on the heels of the UK government’s broader fraud strategy (which committed to such a review) and the upcoming failure to prevent fraud offence … Continue Reading
The recent Patisserie Valerie charges against four individuals provide a preview of the type of scenario in which companies could be investigated under the new failure to prevent fraud offence as well as the expanded test for corporate criminal liability. In this blog, we outline the charges brought by the SFO, provide an update on … Continue Reading
Background On 4 September 2023, the UK House of Commons debated the House of Lords’ amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill). The House of Commons voted to include an exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and remove the extension of the proposed offence to failure to prevent money laundering. … Continue Reading
Three recent cases act as a reminder that the CPS, HMRC and NCA, as well as the SFO, are actively enforcing the UK Bribery Act and conducting cross-border investigations. Two of the cases summarised below also show a focus on the demand side of bribery (i.e. suspected offences of individuals receiving or requesting a bribe … Continue Reading
Summary As part of a new anti-corruption package announced on 3 May 2023, the European Commission has proposed a new directive (Directive) which, if implemented, would require EU member states (Member States) to meet common standards in their anti-corruption legislation. More detail on the EU’s anti-corruption package, including the proposed new rules, an overview of … Continue Reading
On 19 July 2023, the UK government published proposed significant amendments to the Companies Act 2006, which would impose greater reporting requirements on large companies, including a requirement to report on material fraud. Coupled with the new failure to prevent fraud offence which we expect to come into force next year (see more here) and … Continue Reading
The UK Parliament is in the process of debating the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill), which is expected to be finalised by the end of the year and come into force during 2024. There has been much discussion of the new failure to prevent fraud offence (for more detail see our article … Continue Reading
The Government has proposed radical reforms to corporate criminal liability for the first time in more than 50 years by making it easier to prosecute companies for economic crime offences committed by their senior employees. The amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill) would replace the common law “directing mind and … Continue Reading
As anticipated in our previous blog post on predictions for 2023, this year has brought about significant developments in investigations and a real focus on fraud. Looking ahead to the second half of 2023, we predict that developments affecting UK business or those doing business in the UK will include: 1. Fraud Economic Crime and … Continue Reading
The UK government recently published its fraud strategy paper: Fraud Strategy: Stopping Scams and Protecting the Public. The prevalence of fraud in the UK cannot be overstated: victims of fraud reported losing £2.35 billion in 2021 and recent research estimates fraud losses in 2021 equate to some £137 billion. The new fraud strategy has three … Continue Reading
On 30 March 2023, the UK Government published its Economic Crime Plan for 2023 – 2026 (the Plan), which sets out a number of measures intended to enhance the UK’s regulatory framework and strengthen its response to the threat of economic crime. The Plan makes clear the Government’s intention to rely increasingly on the private … Continue Reading
Updated Friday 8 September 2023 The UK Government intends to introduce a new “failure to prevent fraud” offence as an amendment to its Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill). On 11 April 2023, the Home Office published a fact sheet (which was updated on 20 June 2023) and tabled an amendment to introduce the failure to prevent … Continue Reading
A recent survey of senior in-house lawyers found that a majority are concerned about the impact of emerging data sources such as collaboration platforms and cloud file-sharing tools. Rightly so, as the pandemic and shift to hybrid working patterns have accelerated the expansion of the corporate data footprint. Traditional channels such as email and laptops are no longer the only data sources that must be addressed when considering data preservation requirements, or in litigation and … Continue Reading
As we enter a recession against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical instability, we expect to see significant financial crime enforcement and investigations in 2023, including a focus on emerging areas such as ESG, cryptocurrencies, and significant developments in financial sanctions. We predict that developments in 2023 will include: 1. Fraud We expect to see continued political … Continue Reading
On Friday 25 November 2022, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill) entered Parliament. The Committee Stage (Commons) was brought to a conclusion on Tuesday 29 November 2022. The Bill, as amended by the Public Bill Committee, was published on 30 November 2022. The Bill proposes various reforms designed to reduce economic and … Continue Reading
On 3 October 2022, the Data Access Agreement (DAA) between the UK and US (see our earlier blog here) came into force. In this blog post we look at this landmark agreement and consider its impact. What is the US-UK Data Access Agreement? Under the new agreement, on receipt of a qualifying lawful order telecommunication … Continue Reading
Germany has become the latest country to agree on a plan to legalise recreational cannabis use among adults in a move that presents significant opportunities for investments in the EU’s largest economy. The Federal Cabinet has approved the key points paper for the legalisation, however a concrete draft law will only be presented once it … Continue Reading
In this post, we summarise the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill) which was published on 22 September 2022 and the significant reform proposed to the role of Companies House. The Bill proposes giving Companies House improved investigation and enforcement powers and makes changes to strengthen regulators’ powers to seize and detain … Continue Reading
In recent years, the UK government has been seeking to tackle ever-growing financial crime and money laundering. In this post, we summarise the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill) published on 22 September 2022 as well the expansion of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) investigative powers under the Bill in an effort to … Continue Reading
