Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Asset definition

What does Asset mean? In legal practice, an asset is any thing of economic value that a person or entity owns or controls and can realise, transfer, secure or enforce. The term is descriptive and used across contexts (company law, trusts, matrimonial finance, probate, enforcement and insolvency), with specific legislation or rules defining it for particular purposes (for example, insolvency, taxation and financial services). Assets include land and buildings, cash and bank balances, securities (shares, bonds and other fixed‑income instruments), receivables, contractual rights (choses in action), intellectual property, goodwill and, increasingly, cryptoassets. Assets may comprise legal or equitable interests and can be tangible or...

Corporate crime and cryptoassets: property status, offences, ransoms, AML/CTF and sanctions exposure, and enforcement powers under POCA, ECCTA and FCA regimes

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

What are cryptoAssets and why are they frequently involved in criminal Activity?

For the purposes of this Practice Note, we use the following meaning of a cryptoasset: information recorded on a blockchain that has been attributed particular features so that the information is treated as a stand-alone asset. For more, see Practice Note: Web 3.0, digital assets and cryptoassets-essentials.

Cryptoassets exhibit qualities that make them especially prone to criminal involvement. The most significant is arguably the decentralised model and the ecosystem in which they typically operate (namely, a standard permission-less blockchain).

Consider this illustration: to send money electronically, you effectively engage a third-party intermediary to carry out the transfer. That entity logs details of the transaction, most notably the identities of the payer and the payee. It will also usually be regulated and therefore obliged to monitor, report and/or deter financial crime, including money laundering. By contrast, within a decentralised, permission-less blockchain, cryptoassets can be exchanged directly from one party to another in a manner that records the movement whilst obfuscating...

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Oliver Cooke

Penningtons Manches Cooper

Oliver is an associate in the commercial dispute resolution team in London. His practice focuses on advising companies and individuals on business crime matters such as fraud, bribery and corruption, as well as regulatory compliance issues. He represents clients across a wide range of sectors in relation to investigations, prosecutions and enforcement actions instigated by a number of bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, the Financial Reporting Council and the Crown Prosecution Service. Oliver's work in this area has included advising on the first UK Deferred Prosecution Agreement in November 2015. Many of Oliver's cases have a multi-jurisdictional aspect, and he has experience of advising on matters involving the United States Department of Justice, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, and the States of Jersey Police. He is also regularly instructed on business...

Charlotte Hill

Penningtons Manches Cooper

Charlotte is an experienced commercial litigator and is named as a ‘rising star’ in The Legal 500. She is recognised as being ‘tenacious … and a real force of nature’, and is said to be ‘brilliant at case management and marshalling evidence’ with ‘a particular talent for sniffing out the best pieces of evidence in a case’.She advises on a broad range of complex, high-value cross-border disputes across a number of commercial and business sectors, including financial services (having previously been on secondment at a large institutional bank), company disputes, corporate insolvency and civil fraud / asset tracing. In addition, she has recently developed expertise in proceedings involving digital assets, including blockchain, cryptocurrencies and trading platforms / exchanges.Charlotte is the elected president of the Junior London Solicitor Litigation Association, a committee member of the Cyber Insurance Association and a steering committee member of the...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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