Legal News

Jim Harra, who leads HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC), wrote in a letter to lawmakers on the UK’s Treasury Select Committee stating that last year recorded the highest number of inquiries opened into suspected sanctions breaches. Twenty-seven of these were connected to potential Russian breaches, Harra noted. Those totals contrast with 2023, when 22 cases were opened, with 20 of them linked to Russia. In 2021, no criminal sanctions cases were initiated, the letter added. HMRC oversees the enforcement of sanctions breaches associated with the import and export of goods, according to his correspondence......

What key areas are they looking at? The expert review on removing or amending the presumption invites submissions on how ‘evidence’ should be defined and what ought to be encompassed within the scope of any legal reform. The MOJ sets clear parameters around what material they consider in scope. The call for evidence specifies that any change will be narrowly limited to ‘that evidence which is generated by software, including Artificial Intelligence and algorithms’. By contrast, material ‘merely captured or recorded by a device’, such as digital communications, is to be excluded. It is deemed ‘vital’ to define computer evidence with clarity so that relevant material is correctly included or excluded, given that such evidence ‘now proliferates […] many prosecutions’, and any legislative change must be informed by the need to maintain the effective operation of the criminal justice system. Another central concern is...

Wagstaff, 53, accepted that defence solicitors are uneasy about the process. Speaking to Law360 at the SFO’s offices overlooking Trafalgar Square, he said issues with the agency’s legacy software — which missed potentially relevant material the SFO was legally bound to disclose to defendants in court cases — have produced more smoke than fire. He added that the review’s findings so far are heartening and that the SFO has not, as yet, found anything that would call the safety of any conviction into question to date. The agency began the review — the latest disclosure setback — in 2024, after revealing it was fixing an encoding fault in its newer system, Open Text Axcelerate software. Behind closed doors, and at times in open forum, publicly, defence lawyers have wondered whether the agency has minimised the scale of the technical problems. Flaws in the former...

On 10 February 2025, Trump jolted legal and corporate circles with an executive order freezing FCPA enforcement and instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to reassess and reshape the federal statute’s application. He directed her to strip away ‘excessive barriers to American commerce abroad’ and to ‘prioritise American interests, American economic competitiveness with respect to other nations, and the efficient use of federal law enforcement resources’. Bondi has 180 days initially to implement the directive, with the option to prolong the review by a further 180 days if additional time is required. The order came on the heels of a Bondi memorandum telling prosecutors in the FCPA unit of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division fraud section to target foreign bribery that sustains cartels and transnational criminal organisations. To date, both directives have generated more uncertainty than clarity about what FCPA...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Cross border criminal investigations Criminal procedure and evidence Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct New Bill introduces important whistleblower protections The Office of the Whistleblower Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 18 December 2025. A second reading is scheduled in the Commons for 25 April 2025. This article sets out a synopsis of the draft Bill, prepared by Whistleblowers UK acting as secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing. See News Analysis: New Bill introduces important...

R ( Serious Fraud Office) v Cook and another [2024] Lexis Citation 3871 What are the practical implications of this case? The practical consequences of this decision principally concern the deployment of the Bribery Sentencing Guideline when sentencing for misconduct in public office, and the ongoing suitability of that offence in its present form. Misconduct in public office addresses wilful wrongdoing ‘to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder’, absent reasonable excuse or justification. It is materially distinct from the alternative corruption count pursued against Mr Cook (and his co-defendant) under the now-repealed Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The 1906 offence focuses on receiving a gift or other consideration as an ‘inducement or reward’ for acting, or refraining from acting, in relation to a principal’s affairs or business. In this context, where the jury...

Director of Public Prosecutions v Jinks [2024] EWHC 3341 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The decision underscores that proceedings commenced after the statutory limit are without jurisdiction and must be dismissed. For practitioners or parties assessing whether a prosecution is out of time, and in relation to CA 2003, s 127 or comparable enactments, the decision makes clear that the start of the limitation period driven by knowledge is not necessarily the same date as the decision to prosecute. The operative date is when all the evidence underpinning that decision first came within the prosecutor’s knowledge. The relevant prosecutor is, as here, the DPP as an office, not the particular individual who ultimately chose to prosecute, even if the function is delegated to one prosecutor and, on appeal, another later reconsiders the file. Accordingly, internal handovers or appellate...

The inquiry stems from the difficulties surrounding digital proof exposed by the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. Currently, a rebuttable common law assumption holds that a machine generating evidential records functions properly, and that outputs created by software are accurate, so computer-derived material is deemed dependable unless contrary evidence is shown. When launching its call for evidence, the government said this assumption ‘proved flawed during the Horizon scandal’. In that episode, hundreds of blameless sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted on the strength of data from a system that was, in truth, not operating as it should. In reply, the government is commissioning an expert examination into removing or revising this assumption. The consultation is open until 15 April 2025 and invites input from individuals with experience of the criminal justice system, and/or computing and software, on how computer evidence ought to be defined and what...

On 12 February 2025, the UK Supreme Court determined that Joseph El‑ Khouri cannot be extradited to the United States to answer insider dealing allegations, as the purported wrongdoing occurred in Britain rather than America. In reaching this view, the justices effectively set aside a 2005 House of Lords authority that had enabled foreign jurisdictions to pursue conduct outside their borders if its impact was nonetheless ‘felt’ there. Edward Grange, an extradition partner at Corker Binning, said the ruling will send ‘seismic shockwaves’ through the US Department of Justice and may prompt a rethink of matters presently before the courts. He noted that treating conduct occurring ‘in’ the US as the place where the acts cited in the extradition request were physically undertaken could seriously limit the US in seeking the surrender of suspects in cross‑border cases when the physical behaviour took place outside the...

The Bill’s principal aims, as signalled by its long title, are to create an independent Office of the Whistleblower ( OWB) and to safeguard both whistleblowers and the practice of whistleblowing. The OWB would be empowered to set, oversee and enforce minimum standards for managing whistleblowing matters. This would encompass establishing protocols for handling protected disclosures, providing independent disclosure and advice services, undertaking whistleblowing investigations, and directing redress for any detriment suffered by whistleblowers. Should the OWB be established, it would represent a substantial shift for organisations in how whistleblowing is addressed, notably by offering individuals the option to report concerns to an independent third-party body with investigatory powers. To understand the Bill’s impetus, how we have reached this point, the case for changing perceptions of whistleblowing, and the treatment of whistleblowers and the response to their reports, it is useful first to...

As it released its 2024 results, the British banking group disclosed that the regulator has initiated a civil enforcement investigation. The lender noted in its report that the FCA probe ‘principally relates to the historical oversight and handling of certain customers with elevated risk’. Barclays also said it has been co-operating with the investigation. This fresh money laundering probe represents the FCA’s latest move involving the lender. In November 2024, the regulator fined the bank £40m over ‘reckless’ arrangements the bank made with Qatari investors while it was raising fresh capital during the 2008 financial crisis... The regulator......

The UK Supreme Court unanimously allowed Joseph El‑ Khouri’s appeal, stopping the United States from seeking the London-based trader’s extradition to answer allegations of insider dealing. The justices reversed two lower-court decisions, finding he could not be surrendered because the core of the alleged misconduct occurred in the UK. They observed that the sole act said to have taken place in the US was paying for a middleman’s hotel room in New York, while the locations where any gains were later enjoyed were merely incidental. Delivering the ruling, Justice George Leggatt said the lower courts were wrong to hold that extradition was justified on the basis that the supposed insider dealing was “felt” on US markets. That conclusion, he explained, conflicts with the plain wording of the extradition scheme, which ties “conduct” to where the physical acts were carried out, not to where their...

The Public Accounts Committee, tasked with assessing whether government plans deliver value for money, said in a newly released report that crucial measures to deter evasion are missing. It warned that overseas traders can still falsely sign up as sellers established in Britain because of lax checks by HMRC and Companies House. The committee said the fresh powers given to Companies House—the official registrar of businesses—under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) are a move in the right direction, but they will not be fully in place until the end of 2026. HMRC should make sure it works with Companies House and the Insolvency Service, the body tasked with tackling corporate abuse, to gauge how the level of fraud influences the tax gap. In the committee’s view, the slow roll-out and the absence of...

UK Finance, in a recent paper, urged the government to scale up investment to tackle economic crime and payment fraud, matching the magnitude of the threat. It argued that technology firms should shoulder part of prevention costs through a more transparent, accountable reimbursement framework and dedicated funding. To inform ministerial choices on allocating resources to financial services for 2026–2028, ahead of the spring budget, UK Finance outlined a set of recommendations. The aim, it said, is for public funding to unlock the sector's role as an engine of growth. ' We need the social media, technology, and telecommunications sectors to do far more alongside us to safeguard the public and society from fraud', the paper stated......

El- Khouri v Government of the United States of America [2025] UKSC 3 Background This appeal stems from a request by the US to extradite El‑ Khouri, a dual British/ Lebanese citizen residing in the UK. The request essentially alleges insider dealing: that El‑ Khouri paid significant sums to an intermediary to obtain confidential inside information about proposed mergers and acquisitions involving companies quoted on US stock markets, and then traded in contracts for difference to profit from that information. The intermediary, who was likewise based outside the US, is said to have obtained the information from two analysts working in the London office of an investment bank. El‑ Khouri is alleged to have remunerated the intermediary in cash and benefits, including funding for a yacht in Greece, a chalet in France and, on two occasions, a hotel room in New York. It is further...

The executive order signed on 10 February 2025 puts a 'pause' on the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ( FCPA), the signature anti-bribery law used to prosecute US and foreign companies for bribing overseas officials to win business abroad. Although this creates scope for the SFO and other cross-border white-collar bodies to fill the gap, the inclination to step in could be politically hazardous, said Dan Hudson, a partner at Seladore Legal. “ I suspect the SFO and enforcers in, for example, France and Germany might well feel they should scrutinise US-headquartered businesses, where their jurisdiction allows, if the US Department of Justice won’t take action,” Hudson noted. Yet he warned the move by Trump could be a “bear trap”, potentially putting the UK on a difficult footing with him early in his administration. “ It remains to be seen whether UK politics will come into...

A dampening of anti-corruption efforts by the US, widely seen as the world’s policeman, has raised concerns about the potential impact on foreign bribery enforcement in Europe and beyond. A fortnight into his second term as US president, Donald Trump has rapidly reset the agenda for enforcers, most notably at the Department of Justice. His attorney general, Pam Bondi, has signalled that prosecutors should broadly treat bribery as a priority only when tied to suspected drug cartel activity. Within hours of taking office on 5 February 2025, Bondi moved to close the 15-year-old US Kleptocracy Initiative, its Klepto Capture Task Force and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, a trio that has over the years enabled the seizure of billions in stolen assets. Transparency campaigners in the US have voiced dismay at the likely fallout for enforcement. The sharp turn towards tackling...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Decision to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution Criminal procedure and evidence Appeal and judicial review Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering Lex Talk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct Report finds whistleblowing failings cost government £426m A whistleblowing charity, in a 4 February 2025 report calling for swift reform, said that overlooking whistleblowers played a role in three serious scandals that left the UK government out of pocket by more than £426m. See News Analysis: Whistleblowing failures cost government £426m, report...

Dominic Ayo Williams, 37, received a serious crime prevention order at Inner London Crown Court on 3 February 2025, following sentencing for a series of fraudulent claims, City of London Police confirmed on 4 February 2025. Formerly known as Ayodele Oladuti, Williams lodged 25 sham travel and home insurance claims with two insurers, according to City Police. He also attempted to conceal an unspent fraud conviction when one insurer challenged him over a claim. Dan Weller, a detective constable with City Police's insurance fraud enforcement department, said Williams exploited travel disruption during the coronavirus pandemic and ‘systematically made bogus insurance claims’ to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds......

Research from whistleblowing charity Protect found that the Post Office Horizon scandal, the issues surrounding nurse Lucy Letby’s murder convictions, and the collapse of UK construction giant Carillion together cost British taxpayers hundreds of millions due to employers and regulators failing to heed whistleblowers. The report concluded that, across all three cases, those who raised the alarm were ignored until it was too late, or employers did not take sufficient action to tackle the concerns put forward. Elizabeth Gardiner, Protect’s chief executive, warned that, at a time when public finances are stretched, the government cannot bear the burden of preventable harm within the public sector......