Legal News

Under the reforms, the watchdog will release to defence teams any material bearing on its inquiry, rather than limiting disclosure to papers that help or weaken its position. Such extra papers could enable defendants to see the FCA’s case in the round, allowing their white‑collar solicitors to shape a stronger defence, said Tom Bushnell of Hickman & Rose. In document‑laden cases (and where memories have dimmed) the ability to assemble all pertinent material can be decisive, helping the subject of enforcement to grasp what occurred and deliver a coherent reply to the claims, Bushnell said. At times, pivotal records or communications can be properly grasped only with context supplied by other material. Previously, the FCA was obliged to disclose the documents it relied upon in regulatory enforcement, as well as any potentially exculpatory evidence. The agency now proposes to give defence lawyers...

As the financial sector awaits the FCA’s policy statement on non-financial misconduct—intended to finalise the rule changes consulted on in September 2023—the regulator, in October 2024, released the findings of its survey on non-financial misconduct. In short, the FCA expects: senior leadership and boards of directors to discuss, challenge and properly oversee non-financial misconduct firms to maintain robust systems and controls that identify and address workplace issues, and firms to take immediate steps to ensure they have effective policies and practices in place The results In February 2024, the FCA issued a compulsory information request to more than 1,000 regulated wholesale financial services firms concerning non-financial misconduct. The FCA requested data and information from 2021 to 2023 on: the number of non-financial misconduct incidents logged by type or category, and how those incidents were detected the number of non-financial misconduct incidents recorded by incident type or category and the...

On 21 November 2024, the prosecutor, working with its French peer, the Parquet National Financier ( PNF), launched a bribery inquiry concerning the French aviation and defence conglomerate. Thales maintains a major footprint in the UK, with its subsidiary employing over 7,000 people across 16 locations. The company, which is partly owned by the French state, produces technology, sensors and software fitted to civilian and military aircraft, among them the Rafale fighter. A French judicial source told MLex last week that the case centres on a PNF investigation opened in July 2024 into suspected bribery of a foreign public official, influence trading and money laundering tied to an Asian arms deal. The PNF has now teamed up with the SFO on the case, each authority respectively concentrating on its own jurisdiction in parallel......

The National Crime Agency ( NCA) has brought two charges against Alexei Owsjaniklow over alleged breaches of sanction linked to the payment of private school fees for the children of Dmitry Ovsyannikov, prosecutors told a hearing held at Southwark Crown Court. Ovsyannikov, once a politician for Russia's party, United Russia, served as governor of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea from 2016 to 2019. He later became Russia's deputy minister of industry and trade between 2019 and 2020. The 47-year-old, who resides in the UK, was placed under UK sanctions in 2020......

High Court Judge, Michael Soole High Court Judge Michael Soole rejected all grounds advanced by CCP Graduate School Ltd to revisit the dismissal of its claim against Nat West for not preventing a 2016 authorised push payment fraud or retrieving the money. He concluded the earlier order striking out the case was obviously right. The company, which previously ran a further education school in north-west London, had asked Judge Soole to permit a challenge to the March 2024 ruling that the claims were out of time. Judge Soole decided the firm’s sole director, Dan Pathirana, had put forward no arguments with a ‘reasonable chance of success’ at the brief hearing on 22 November 2024, stating the prior decision was ‘plainly......

Failure to prevent fraud by a corporate organisation On 6 November 2024, the UK Home Office issued long-awaited guidance on the new ‘failure to prevent fraud by a corporate organisation’ offence, commonly referred to as the corporate fraud offence. This development adds another avenue for an expanding cohort of claimants to pursue companies over climate-related matters, including alleged greenwashing. It represents one, albeit major, component within a shifting environmental compliance regime. As frameworks mature, businesses must move quickly to remain compliant. At the same time, a broader mix of actors—from regulators such as the Advertising Standards Authority ( ASA) and the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) to non-governmental bodies focused on environmental concerns—is adopting more sophisticated and forceful tactics to shape corporate conduct. Consequently, the legal pathways for environmental compliance claims have multiplied and grown more imaginative, with novel arguments pushed into areas once...

All eyes on the SFO after LC& F Ponzi scheme ruling On 14 November 2024, High Court Judge Robert Miles delivered a judgment concluding that former executives of the mini-bonds issuer deceived investors, spotlighting behaviour sure to interest the anti-fraud prosecuting agency. Running in parallel with those civil claims, the SFO has probed figures linked to the company since its 2019 collapse. Five people have been arrested, yet no charges have followed. While the court proceedings have provided a granular examination of the episodes in question, lawyers warn that how far the agency can leverage the findings remains uncertain. In this piece, Law360 surveys the key lessons from the 341-page ruling—and what they may signal for the SFO's inquiry. A Ponzi scheme London Capital & Finance plc, propelled by glossy promotions and assurances of steady, bank-beating yields, drew in over 11,600 backers—the biggest...

In this issue: Cross border criminal investigations Proceeds of crime Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental 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 Cross border criminal investigations Mo J signs Memorandum of Understanding with Poland on Criminal Justice Co-operation On 14 November 2024 in Warsaw, the UK Ministry of Justice and the Home Office entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ( Mo U) with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland. The arrangement is designed to enhance co-operation and shared learning on criminal justice between the two countries. Its scope covers mutual legal assistance, surrender pursuant to arrest...

What does the government guidance tells us about what reasonable procedures businesses are expected to take to avoid committing the new failure to prevent fraud offence? Government guidance explains the steps expected of businesses to avoid liability for the new failure to prevent fraud offence. Relevant organisations can rely on a defence to FTPF where they have reasonable procedures to prevent fraud (in this context, fraud intended to benefit the organisation), or if they can show it was not reasonable to expect any prevention measures at all. The Guidance to organisations on the offence of failure to prevent fraud (the Guidance) outlines, in broad terms, the procedures companies may adopt to deter associated persons from committing fraud offences. It states that a company’s FTPF framework should be shaped by six principles: top level commitment risk assessment ...

What can we expect from the ASA in the ESG space? In April 2024, the ASA released its 2023 Annual Report, outlining a five‑year plan built on AI‑assisted collective regulation of adverts, shifting the system from complaints‑led cases to proactive monitoring and enforcement. This represents a notable pivot, positioning the ASA as a more visible and agile regulator within ESG. The report confirms that environmental claims continue to be a leading priority for the authority. James Best, Chair of the Committee of Advertising Practice, remarks that arguably the most significant long‑term endeavour of the ASA and CAP has centred on environmental claims. This includes clarifying the meaning of ‘green claims’ and setting expectations for how climate change and mitigating technologies should be presented in adverts. The ASA’s stepped‑up activity demonstrates this focus: in 2023 it issued new guidance on...

Claiming it will stem the tide of benefits cheats, the government used the 30 October 2024 Budget to set aside millions to hire almost 200 additional investigators for HMRC’s unit that tackles this type of fraud. Ministers also struck a hard line on offshore tax evasion, promising “additional resources” to pursue serious fraud by wealthy elites and those who facilitate them. However, no sum has been specified, nor has it said how many recruits will bolster HMRC’s offshore team, whose serious tax fraud probes sit at a six-year low. Peter Binning, a partner at Corker Binning, observed that it has rarely been easier for tax evaders to conceal offshore wealth from the UK tax inspector. Binning added that global digital platforms enabling evaders to operate across borders, together with the availability of crypto-assets, present a significant challenge for tax...

In October 2024, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) revealed that 42 UK companies are being investigated for breaching the Russian oil price cap. Even so, the heftiest UK sanction for compliance failings this year did not come from OFSI; that distinction sits with the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA). On 4 October 2024, the FCA imposed a £28.9m penalty on Starling Bank for what were characterised as 'shockingly lax' sanctions screening practices and 'systemic issues' within the bank's financial sanctions framework. By comparison, OFSI's first penalty for contravening the financial restrictions introduced after Russia's invasion of Ukraine (a £15,000 fine against London-based Integral Concierge Services Ltd in September 2024) appears decidedly modest. With that context, this article examines the UK and EU's stance on sanctions enforcement. Taken together, these events set the scene for a comparison of...

In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence 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 Corporate Crime in Scotland Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence Crown Court ( Amendment No 2) Rules 2024 SI 2024/1131: Updates to the Crown Court Rules 1982 ( SI 1982/1109) have been introduced to mirror changes to Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) and to Schedule 1 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 ( ATCSA 2001) made by the Economic Crime and...

On 11 November 2024, the insurer reported that three in ten of the 2,000 motorists aged 17 to 25 had obtained car cover from individuals unlawfully selling bogus or invalid policies on social media platforms—a practice known as ghost broking. The survey, carried out by Censuswide in October 2024, found that nearly nine in ten (89%) of young motorists who bought insurance online experienced a range of issues with their policy. These included one in six (17%) saying they had been stopped by the police for driving without cover, and nearly 50% stating their details were misrepresented on the policy, rendering it not valid. Katriona Cunningham, policy application fraud lead at Aviva, said it was ‘understandable’ that young drivers were......

In 2010, the lender became the first new high-street bank to launch in the UK for more than a century, but later fell foul of the FCA over shortcomings in financial crime controls dating back to 2016. Metro was hit with a £16.6m fine for failing to adequately monitor tens of millions of transactions valued at over £50bn. The deficiencies, which ran from June 2016 to December 2020, triggered a remediation programme that was only finalised in 2022. Nearly 1,500 suspicious activity reports were subsequently sent to the National Crime Agency, and the bank’s review resulted in 43 customer accounts being closed. Under the UK’s anti-money laundering regime, banks are required to submit suspected money laundering cases to the financial intelligence agency. Metro, which notified the regulator in 2019, has appeared on the FCA’s financial crime watchlist since June 2023 and was placed under...

Ashley Alder, chair of the FCA, told members on the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee that it could have rolled out the so-called name and shame framework more effectively. Appearing before the parliamentary panel alongside chief executive Nikhil Rathi, Alder said the February 2024 plans drew a strong backlash. Many read the consultation as an intention to name virtually every case, he noted, though that was never what was proposed. He admitted there was a degree of miscommunication. Although he said the regulator has had many fine hours, he accepted that floating proposals to identify the subjects of its investigations was probably not among them. The push triggered widespread criticism from parliament and insurers, and the broader financial industry was also unhappy with the FCA’s aim to publish particulars of specific investigations at an earlier point......

On 11 November 2024, the FCA announced that, following the completion of a review, it had expanded the overall scope of information it may release when examining authorised individuals or firms that might have breached its rules. The review had been recommended by a tribunal in June 2023, which upheld an appeal brought by former staff of investment bank Julius Baer against an FCA ruling that barred them from working in regulated financial services. The regulator said on 11 November 2024: ‘ Under our widened approach, we will provide all material that is relevant to the facts, unless disclosure would be disproportionate, not in the public interest, or otherwise inappropriate.’ It added: ‘ This encompasses material that may undermine the case as well as material that supports it.’ According to the FCA, the change is designed to reduce the risk of...

New rules that UK banks and payments firms must reimburse victims of payment fraud could make the UK more attractive to criminal scammers, a lawmaker has warned In an exclusive interview with MLex, Luke Charters argued the new APP reimbursement scheme should have launched in tandem with measures aimed at the social media platforms from which so many scams stem, rather than in isolation. ‘ It can’t just be about compensation, it’s also got to be about disrupting fraud at source’, Charters said. His remarks follow the 7 October 2024 commencement of the APP fraud framework, which obliges banks and payments firms to repay victims, with a ceiling of £85,000. Banks had pushed back, warning it might encourage customers to be less careful. Meanwhile, smaller payments firms complained that just a few high-value refunds could threaten their very...

Microlise Group plc Microlise Group plc, a supplier of fleet-tracking software used by Serco and mail carrier DHL, said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange that it intends to have its services 'largely back to normal' within a week, following a cyber-attack that targeted its network. The software company first reported the attack in a statement to the stock market on 31 October 2024. Microlise said it does not expect the attack to materially affect its financial forecasts or its overall financial position. The announcement did not disclose which of its corporate customers were impacted by the incident......

The SFO disclosed via a Freedom of Information Act request that it had spent £16m over a decade probing ENRC, before abandoning the prosecution in 2023 due to a lack of admissible evidence. Since 2016, the agency has further paid £12m to external lawyers, including Eversheds Sutherland LLP, on civil proceedings as it defended the original decision to commence the criminal inquiry. An SFO spokesperson on 6 November 2024 said the expenditure reflected a lengthy, complex investigation that pursued every reasonable lead, alongside a robust defence of ENRC’s claims following the launch of the probe. The figures were posted on the SFO’s website on 31 October 2024. However, ENRC’s sought damages in the civil action could yet surpass those sums. ENRC, the mining giant at the centre of the probe, was investigated for ten years, with the SFO stressing that...