Legal News

Justice William Davis of the Court of Appeal’s criminal division authorised the SFO to pursue enforcement action against Guralp Systems Ltd over an alleged breach of the financial terms of a 2019 deferred prosecution agreement ( DPA). He dismissed Guralp’s contention that the DPA no longer had effect because the agency missed the deadline to seek court enforcement. Instead, he held it was an ‘implied’ term of the non-prosecution agreement that the SFO had a ‘reasonable time’ to inform the company of any failure to pay in full and, if necessary, to apply to the court to enforce the breach. A spokesperson for the SFO said the agency was ‘pleased the court agreed with our arguments’ and that it would ‘continue proceedings in relation to the first breach of a DPA’. The ruling enables the SFO to ask the court to decide whether a...

Here, Law360 looks at why justices upheld Khan's designation and other takeaways from the Court of Appeal's 24 January 2025 judgment. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) licensing route — designed to allow designated people to cover essentials like water and power — was overwhelmed to the point that, the Court of Appeal heard, Anzhelika Khan spent months waiting for official clearance simply to buy food for herself and her children. Delivering a scathing assessment, the judges observed that Khan could have faced prosecution for the mere act of eating. The court concluded that the government had given scant consideration to how those subject to an OFSI asset freeze were meant to get by without breaking the law. “ It is striking that the judges condemned this regime as profoundly inhumane, effectively forcing a mother to choose between obeying the law and...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft 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 SRA aims to launch first Post Office prosecutions in summer According to its chair, the Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA) intends to initiate the first prosecutions linked to the Post Office Horizon scandal this summer. The regulator is probing more than 20 law firms connected to one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British history. See News Analysis: SRA aims to launch first Post Office prosecutions in summer. Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls What are the implications of the Memorandum of Understanding between OFSI and OFAC for financial sanctions enforcement? Seeking to reinforce sanctions enforcement, the US Department of the...

The watchdog is examining more than 20 separate law firms connected to one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in British history. We will, of course, act as swiftly as we can and, while we cannot confirm an exact timetable, we are hopeful we can commence prosecution action in some cases in the summer of this year, chair Anna Bradley wrote in a blog post on 27 January 2025......

Why is the CMA consulting? The CMA is inviting views on the draft ‘ Consumer Protection: Enforcement Guidance CMA58ii’ (‘ Draft Guidance’), which sets out the consumer protection tools available to the CMA, and its stance on compliance with and enforcement of UK consumer law. Once finalised, this document will supersede the CMA58 guidance from 2016 (‘2016 Guidance’). The Draft Guidance establishes a framework for applying the CMA’s investigatory and enforcement functions in consumer matters, reflecting changes brought in by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (‘ DMCCA 2024’). That Act strengthens rights and protections for UK consumers and equips the CMA with robust sanctions—including the ability to levy fines directly—for breaches of UK consumer law. It clarifies how these powers will be exercised effectively across investigations and enforcement activity. The consultation closes on 22 January 2025. What are the key changes...

The guide has formed part of the FCA’s Handbook of Rules and Guidance since 2011, and the FCA is keen to keep it a practical source for firms, both now and in future. The aim of the revisions is to help businesses grasp the regulator’s expectations, judge whether their financial crime systems and controls are adequate, and remedy any issues uncovered during that review. As its title implies, the guide offers guidance only, not binding rules. It sets out clear, overarching direction on what a rounded, holistic approach to compliance should look like, followed by chapter-by-chapter detail closely aligned to specific financial crime prevention legislation and regulatory expectations. Key changes Sanctions systems and controls Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the FCA carried out wide-ranging reviews of firms’ sanctions systems and controls, and has revised the relevant chapter to capture those insights. Respondents welcomed...

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the asset freeze and transport sanctions imposed on Anzhelika Khan, a British national born in Russia and spouse of billionaire German Khan, should remain in force. She argued she has never engaged in politics nor backed Vladimir Putin. Delivering the judgment for a three-judge panel, Justice Rabinder Singh stated the High Court was right to find that any softer alternative would dilute the purpose of the sanctions regime—signalling that the UK will not tolerate conduct that endangers Ukraine’s sovereignty. He added: Even had I considered the judge’s approach mistaken, my own proportionality analysis would lead me to the same result, following a proportionality evaluation carried out personally in light of the circumstances......

Rules, policy or guidance about NFM New rules, policy or guidance on NFM are expected sometime in 2025, following the FCA’s NFM survey report issued in the final quarter of 2024. That report indicated marked rises in NFM between 2021 and 2023 in bullying and harassment. Oversight of NFM by the FCA, the PRA, the Bo E and other financial services regulators prompts philosophical and jurisprudential debate about how far the state can and should, as principal, delegate the stewardship, governance and enforcement of wide societal ethical matters, such as the treatment of women at work. Questions prompted by regulatory involvement in NFM within financial services include: is it truly the remit of a financial services regulator to monitor general conduct, for example, behaviour at an office party, that does not squarely sit within the scope of providing financial services?...

On 17 January 2025, the High Court authorised an order for the white-collar anti-fraud authority, marking the first occasion the SFO has attempted to exercise a power brought in seven years earlier to pursue the contaminated wealth and holdings of corrupt elites in practical application to date. Yet instead of deploying the order to chase oligarchs' holdings, the SFO used it to obtain financial details concerning a property owned by Timothy Schools' former wife in order to inform ongoing inquiries. The lawyer received a 14-year sentence in 2022, having been found guilty of fraud for siphoning off millions of pounds earmarked for a legal aid fund improperly. The SFO considers this the first instance of a UWO being pursued post-conviction to restrain potentially tainted assets and compel accounts of the provenance of the property and acquisition. Securing the order...

Background to OTSI guidance Following Russia’s assault on Ukraine in February 2022, the UK brought in trade sanctions covering a broad spectrum of goods, technology and services. Although direct commerce between the UK and Russia has fallen markedly since these measures were imposed, Russia has continued attempting to source such items indirectly, often via intricate supply chains. This trend has heightened the exposure of UK businesses to sanctions circumvention and the diversion of products to Russia. The methods used to sidestep restrictions are diverse and evolve rapidly, including fabricated end-use details, routed shipments, and the involvement of professional sanctions evasion networks. Participants across supply chains must recognise the diversion threats created by Russia’s procurement activity in this changed environment. Among other provisions, UK trade sanctions bar the export from the UK of sanctioned items to, or for use in, Russia, even where those items are first...

Key trends shaping corporate ethics and compliance landscape in 2025 Stakeholder expectations often conflict From ESG criteria and supply chain disclosures to the priorities of a millennial workforce, alongside activist investors and consumers, pressure is mounting for companies to behave ethically and with social responsibility — not merely to meet legal requirements, but to mirror the wider values of customers, staff, investors and other stakeholders. Yet consensus on what counts as 'ethical' or 'socially responsible' is scarce. Consider the ongoing Carter v Southwest Airlines Co case before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, pitting the airline against a flight attendant over her social media posts about abortion. At its core lies the clash between an employee's right to voice deeply held views and an employer's aim to preserve workplace civility. Across issues spanning abortion, immigration, global warming and diversity, employees, investors and...

In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence Sentencing 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 Local authority prosecutions Money laundering Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence Mo J seeks input for independent review of criminal courts The Ministry of Justice ( Mo J) has opened a call for evidence as part of Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts. A new ‘ Engagement’ section now invites stakeholders to share their views on any element of the review by 31 January 2025. Sir Brian welcomes bold and inventive proposals that question current approaches or showcase best...

BBC World Service cited tests which it claimed showed that 17 products, largely own-brand lines, were likely to include Chinese tomatoes. The supermarkets offering these goods have challenged the BBC’s conclusions. The findings were also showcased in the BBC Panorama episode, ‘ What’s on Your Supermarket Shelves? The Dark Side of the Tomato Trade.’ The investigation reported that China produces about a third of the world’s tomatoes—principally from the Xinjiang region—where production is, it alleged, connected to forced labour involving Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. Chinese officials reject assertions of coercion in the tomato industry and contend that workers’ rights are protected by law. This raises complex issues for UK grocers stocking such items, who may find themselves within the scope of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) as a...

Prosecuting oligarchs Prosecuting oligarchs is only one gauge of how effective Britain’s sanctions regime has been, which has made their lives ‘more difficult in the UK’, according to Celestino Calabrese, the deputy head of illicit finance at the National Crime Agency ( NCA). Action for sanctions breaches has taken time to bite, notably, yet curbs on finance have stripped oligarchs of wealth and mobility while stopping their facilitators from moving assets beyond the authorities’ reach, Calabrese told Law360 in an interview. Britain’s success in tracing holdings and securing cooperation from the regulated sector overall is ‘why there seems to be a relatively low level of criminal enforcement activity’. As a result, indeed, it is ‘extremely difficult for designated parties to circumvent financial sanctions controls’, Calabrese said. ‘ The people that we’re looking at are very serious, and they’re looking at us and what we’re doing’, here, he...

Business and Trade Select Committee hearing: Shein questioned on cotton sourcing Yinan Zhu, Shein’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told MPs she was unable to answer MPs’ questions on whether the company sources cotton from China’s western Xinjiang region, or whether its suppliers are prohibited from sourcing cotton from there. She maintained that claims of likely human rights abuses in the region are ‘not about Shein specifically’. Defending the company’s compliance work, Zhu said suppliers are bound by a code of conduct and that Shein has commissioned thousands of audits to ensure standards are met in the countries where it operates. Giving evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee, she stated: ‘ We are compliant with the relevant UK laws’. The committee’s chair, Labour MP Liam Byrne, was not impressed. ‘ For a company that sells a...

In this issue A review of key cases in 2024 and 2025 Criminal liability Investigating criminal conduct Proceeds of crime Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information A review of key cases in 2024 and 2025 A retrospective on standout UK corporate crime matters from 2024 highlights Julian Assange’s high-profile plea agreement, which enabled the Wikileaks founder to leave prison, the first penalty handed down by Britain’s sanctions regulator in relation to Russia, and a seminal decision on...

Lee Feldman, once chair of GVC Holdings Ltd, now Entain, and Kenneth Alexander, the group’s former chief executive, allege the watchdog improperly revealed details of the probe during a licence assessment linked to an unsuccessful leadership bid. Their High Court filing states the Gambling Commission’s conduct caused them 'damage, distress and embarrassment, as well as the loss of standing'. In December 2023, Entain consented to pay £615m under a deferred prosecution agreement, concluding an HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC) inquiry into the company’s alleged shortcomings in instituting anti-bribery controls at its erstwhile Turkish operation, divested in 2017. The row stems from June 2023 applications: Feldman to join 888 Holdings plc as a director, and Alexander to become chief executive at the same gambling group. They argue the disclosures occurred throughout the review and significantly undermined their candidacies and...

UK moves to protect prosecutors from deep-pocketed individuals in suspected dirty-money cases could see enforcers becoming braver in taking on Kleptocrats Moves in the UK to shield prosecutors from the resources of well-heeled suspects in alleged dirty-money matters may embolden enforcers to tackle Kleptocrats more boldly. Yet, past experience indicates a surge of fresh actions remains improbable. The government stated last month that it sees value in bringing in ‘costs protection’ for agencies pursuing the recovery of criminal proceeds through civil routes. The plan follows anxieties that public bodies have been hamstrung in confronting affluent figures tied to suspected illicit funds, owing to the risk that civil courts might oblige them to shoulder substantial legal fees. Authorities have already received similar safeguards when deploying Unexplained Wealth Orders ( UWOs), after the National Crime Agency ( NCA) was hit with £1.5m in costs when it lost a...

Elsewhere, a Chinese woman accused of washing bitcoin faces trial, while former Barclays chief Jes Staley plans to contest his prohibition imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA). And the Serious Fraud Office ( SFO) will finish the year still resisting ENRC's claim for £240m in damages over the agency’s mishandled investigation into the mining group affair. Here, Law360 surveys these matters alongside other corporate crime cases to monitor in the year ahead. SRA v Dentons, round two The Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA) intends to contest findings that Dentons’ anti-money laundering shortcomings did not amount to professional misconduct, a ruling delivered in June 2025 instead. At an appeal listed for 29 January 2025 in the High Court, the legal regulator will seek to overturn the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s dismissal of its case alleging Dentons UK and Middle East LLP breached...

PSIG stated that its personnel continue to operate on a voluntary footing at present, significantly constraining any additional services it might provide. PSIG has been instrumental in shaping government policy within the pensions landscape, notably the 2021 rules compelling trustees to pause or stop pension transfers when 'red flags' arise, for example where savings are channelled into unregulated investments. PSIG opened a consultation on its own organisational future in May 2024. It reported receiving responses from the retirement sector suggesting it would......