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Oct 3, 2024 | 
lexology.com | Barry Vitou
Recent bribery charges brought by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office against six individuals who have worked for commodity traders are a further reminder, if one were needed, of the authorities’ focus (and corresponding headlines) on commodity trading and alleged misconduct. We do not expect this focus to change, in the UK or globally.
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Jul 4, 2024 | 
lexology.com | William Maclachlan |Jessica Taylor |Tom Walters |Liam Emmett |Michelle Chance |Lydia Cammiade | +5 more
As the northern hemisphere’s summer season begins and the rush of pre-season work slows down, we have found time to put pen to paper to bring you the latest edition of Comprehensively Yachts, which we hope you find full of thought-provoking topics and analysis.
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Apr 24, 2024 | 
lexology.com | Barry Vitou |Anne-Marie Ottaway |Cindy Laing |Kevin Warburton |Karen Cheung |Michael Maxwell | +4 more
We reflect on some of the key themes in the compliance and investigations space in the first quarter of the year and set out our predictions for 2024. Changes to UK corporate liability for financial crimesIn the UK, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) was passed late last year which introduced two major changes: a new failure to prevent fraud offence (due to come into force later in 2024) and a new law for attributing corporate liability.
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Jan 24, 2024 | 
lexology.com | Barry Vitou |Anne-Marie Ottaway |Cindy Laing
What's new? The new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), expands the scope of the SFO's powers to compel individuals to provide documents and information before a formal investigation is launched. Previously, these powers were only available to investigators in cases of suspected international bribery but as of 15 January 2024, they are now available to the SFO for use in cases of suspected fraud.
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Nov 8, 2023 | 
lexology.com | Barry Vitou |Anne-Marie Ottaway |Cindy Laing
On 26 October 2023, the long-awaited Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) received Royal Assent after a protracted period of parliamentary pingpong. We first wrote about this Act over the summer and described the Bill (as was) as the biggest shake up in corporate criminal law in 100 years, you can read about it here. In this article, we will discuss the key changes introduced by the Act and what we can expect in terms of the impact for businesses.
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Oct 24, 2023 | 
lexology.com | Barry Vitou |Anne-Marie Ottaway |Cindy Laing |Karen Cheung |Kevin Warburton |Michael Maxwell | +3 more
As we are nearing the end of 2023, we reflect on some key developments over August and September, and give our take on what we expect to see for the remainder of the year.
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Sep 20, 2023 | 
thetimes.co.uk | Barry Vitou
As Nicholas Ephgrave takes over as director of the Serious Fraud Office next week he will be acutely aware that he has a tough job ahead to restore its reputation. But that goal is achievable. The agency’s performance under its departing director, Lisa Osofsky, has been mixed. On one hand there have been some prominent successes with more than £1 billion having been collected in fines – albeit with that figure being somewhat skewed by a couple of big cases.
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Sep 8, 2023 | 
msn.com | Barry Vitou
Draft UK legislation which could result in the biggest shake up in corporate criminal law in 100 years is to be welcomed and is being considered not a moment too soon. Bribery aside, existing fraud laws are antiquated and unfair. It is easier to prosecute the small corporate owner of a corner shop than it is a larger company for the same misconduct. For over a century the courts have wrestled with the concept of attributing criminal liability to companies.
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Sep 8, 2023 | 
cityam.com | Barry Vitou
Draft UK legislation which could result in the biggest shake up in corporate criminal law in 100 years is to be welcomed and is being considered not a moment too soon. Bribery aside, existing fraud laws are antiquated and unfair. It is easier to prosecute the small corporate owner of a corner shop than it is a larger company for the same misconduct. For over a century the courts have wrestled with the concept of attributing criminal liability to companies.
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Aug 8, 2023 | 
mondaq.com | Barry Vitou |Anne-Marie Ottaway |Cindy Laing
As the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
("the Bill") reaches the final stages of its journey
through the UK Parliament, we consider what may be the biggest
shake-up to corporate criminal law in 100 years.
Tucked away in the "miscellaneous" Part 5 of the Bill
are clauses that have the potential to change the landscape of
corporate liability for certain economic crimes.
