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United Kingdom
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SFO London Mining prosecution collapses; defendants pursue s.19 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 costs alleging bribery by experts as disclosure issues trigger 20-case review (England and Wales)
According to court filings by Ariel Armon, an acquitted defendant, dated 24 April 2026 and only released on 22 May 2026, an expert witness engaged by the SFO to support its bribery and corruption investigation enlisted a public official to channel improper payments to other officials in order to secure information and materials for the SFO’s inquiry. In February 2026, the SFO halted its case against Graeme Hossie, the former chief executive of London Mining, Rachel Rhodes, its ex-chief financial officer, and Armon, a former consultant. The agency has rejected any suggestion of misconduct. The trio had been charged by the SFO in June 2023 with conspiring to pay bribes to state officials and intermediaries to advance London Mining’s interests in Sierra Leone. Hossie, Rhodes, and Armon were scheduled for trial in April 2026. However, the SFO discontinued the...
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Sentencing Council publishes simplified SentencingACE tool to assist Crown Court sentencers in identifying relevant statutory provisions and sentencing guidelines
New tool for sentencers in the Crown Court The Sentencing Council has released a streamlined edition of the SentencingACE tool, created to assist sentencers in the Crown Court in identifying the relevant statutory provisions and sentencing guidelines when passing sentence for an offence. Access the tool here......
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UK corporate crime weekly: Crime and Policing Act 2026 corporate criminal liability expansion (senior manager test), plus sanctions, POCA, cyber, environmental, health and safety and insolvency enforcement
In this issue: Criminal liability Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Local authority prosecutions International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal liability Corporate criminal liability expansion-the Crime and Policing Act 2026 The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (CPA 2026) has now secured Royal Assent, heralding a substantial reset of corporate criminal liability in the UK. By broadening attribution through a widened ‘senior manager’ test, it steps away from the restrictive bounds of the traditional identification principle. From 29 June 2026, corporate criminal exposure will depend not on fixing misconduct to the board or the most senior executives, but on the real-world allocation and exercise of decision-making authority throughout the organisation......
NEWS
FCA review of firms’ financial and trade sanctions systems and controls: findings, good and poor practice, common weaknesses, reporting expectations, and MoU with OTSI to enhance co-operation.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released the results of a review evaluating financial services firms’ frameworks and controls relating to financial and trade sanctions. The publication sets out illustrations of effective and weak practice, plus development priorities, to support firms in meeting sanctions legislation. According to FCA, firms have advanced in avoiding sanctions breaches, yet deficiencies persist......
Insolvency offences—overview
Corporate insolvency
Insolvency, in essence, means a company or an individual cannot settle their debts. The main statute dealing with corporate insolvency is the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986), which establishes the framework for what occurs when a company is unable to pay what it owes. The legislative scheme is complex, and reference should be made to Insolvency processes: introductory guides-overview for information on the procedures. Numerous criminal offences under the IA 1986 concern failures by a company or its officers to comply with obligations during liquidation. In practice, the criminal liability provisions are seldom used. This is partly because prosecutions under the IA 1986 are expensive, time-consuming, and require considerable resources. In addition, criminal proceedings do not assist creditors in recovering funds. Creditors are generally more likely to obtain repayment through the civil courts than via criminal prosecution. As an alternative to prosecution, directors’ disqualification processes are often employed; see Directors’ disqualification-overview. Not all criminal behaviour in the context of corporate insolvency will be prosecuted under the IA 1986. There will...
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I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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