Legal News

The inquiry uncovered evidence that products made, in whole or in part, with forced labour are entering the UK market, despite the government’s position that no company operating in the UK should have forced labour anywhere in its supply chain. The Report concludes that the UK is now lagging behind international trading partners in addressing forced labour in supply chains. Its principal recommendation is to strengthen existing laws and their enforcement, and to introduce new measures to embed corporate responsibility (including mandatory human rights due diligence), apply an import ban on goods linked to forced labour, and create a ‘duty to prevent’ that establishes civil liability for companies that fail to take adequate steps to prevent forced labour in their supply chains. The Report’s themes The Report examines six themes: Corporate responsibility Import bans and...

The US Department of Justice has signalled notable shifts in corporate enforcement priorities. A six‑month pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act activity culminated in fresh guidance for prosecutors, while updates to existing DOJ policies have expanded rewards for voluntary self-reporting and strengthened incentives for whistleblowers. In parallel, overseas enforcement is evolving: recent guidance and legislation encourage disclosure and afford defences where robust compliance programmes are in place. At the same time, certain foreign authorities continue to champion cross‑border co-operation, a longstanding hallmark of assertive enforcers in an anti‑corruption arena historically led by the United States. Collectively, these movements recalibrate risks and incentives for global compliance programmes. Those charged with oversight should embed resilient reporting and investigation capabilities across all jurisdictions, balancing the DOJ’s new priorities with the more traditional focuses of foreign authorities. Crucially, the shifting landscape also offers concrete...

In this issue: Criminal liability Criminal procedure and evidence 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 Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Corporate Crime in Scotland International Lex Talk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal liability Joint Committee publishes its report on Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains Commercial analysis: On 24 July 2025, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (the ‘ Joint Committee’) released its Report on Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains (the ‘ Report’). The Report’s release comes after the Joint Committee launched an inquiry on 21 January 2025 to...

The City UK consultation response On 4 August 2025, The City UK noted that the FCA’s consultation on rules for issuing stablecoins—digital tokens typically linked to fiat currencies such as the dollar keeping values steady—contains a significant omission on granular AML obligations. The regulator’s plan for overseeing the sector failed to set this out. The trade association said in its 4 August 2025 consultation response: although the FCA’s crypto roadmap signals that financial crime requirements will be tackled in a later consultation, it is vital to spell out how AML standards will apply to digital assets, including use cases unique to stablecoins (and custody). Custody refers to holding and protecting a client’s digital assets, yet custodians, including crypto exchanges, may face exposure to financial crime from within organisations or via hackers or cyber-attacks. The City UK said the FCA needs to make clear how its...

The consultation The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) — the authority responsible, within its health and safety remit, for regulating chemicals in the UK — has released a consultation paper on chemicals policy. It concentrates on three key strands: the regulation of biocides the classification, labelling and packaging ( CLP) of chemicals the export and import of hazardous chemicals, including prior informed consent ( PIC) The background The consultation is largely a consequence of Brexit. For instance, before the UK’s departure, the European Chemicals Agency ( ECHA) handled approvals for biocidal products on the EU single market through the EU Biocidal Products Regulation ( Regulation ( EU) 528/2012), which sets rules for marketing and using biocides across Europe. Since leaving the European Union, this responsibility sits with HSE for Great Britain (not the whole UK, as Northern Ireland continues to apply certain EU...

Regulatory specialists caution that numerous financial firms are ill-equipped for the fallout of altered requirements for senior leaders—the FCA’s plan to extend how long criminal record checks remain valid before appointments could make it easier for wrongdoers to slip into boardroom ranks without timely scrutiny or deterrence measures. The ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) targets fraud by employees undertaken to advantage the business in practice. Under this provision, only the corporate entity faces prosecution directly. It covers financial services businesses satisfying any two of three thresholds: more than 250 staff; turnover above £36m; or assets exceeding £18m within the relevant accounting period for the organisation concerned. This simplification may expose regulated businesses to heightened infiltration by fraudsters and to follow-on liability under the ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence where a fraud is carried out that...

Britain’s highest court has granted the Foreign Office significant discretion by upholding sanctions on US- British billionaire Eugene Shvidler on 29 July 2025, a move that could pave the way for wider use of punitive financial measures. The justices’ view that officials should be ‘accorded a wide margin of appreciation’ in national security matters signals that courts will rarely unsettle sanctions listings, even when the underlying evidence appears unpersuasive. Syed Rahman, a partner at Rahman Ravelli, said the ruling will embolden ministers, while cautioning that there is an obvious danger the UK sanctions framework could become a tool of reputational penalty, lacking the checks and balances for which the legal system is known. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government has designated more than 1,800 individuals and entities. Yet this is the first judgment to address the lawfulness of...

In this issue: Criminal liability Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeal and judicial review 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 Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal liability On 24 July 2025, the Joint Committee on Human Rights ( JCHR) issued a report cautioning that the UK’s legal framework is failing to keep products made with forced labour out of the market. It proposes new laws compelling companies to undertake human rights due...

Shvidler v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs; Dalston Projects Ltd and others v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] UKSC 30. Background The appeal raises significant issues about how the UK's sanctions framework functions, introduced to exert pressure on the Russian Federation to halt its brutal war on Ukraine. It further examines whether interferences with a designated individual’s or company’s Convention rights are proportionate. The two appellants, Mr Shvidler and Dalston Projects Ltd, were subjected to measures made under the powers in the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the 2019 Regulations), SI 2019/855, as revised in 2022. Mr Shvidler’s designation occurred on 24 March 2022, one month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The consequence was a worldwide asset freeze and the creation of a criminal offence for others who engage with him, whether privately or in...

What is the background of this report? In December 2024, Sir Brian Leveson was commissioned to develop options and recommendations on reforming the criminal courts so that cases are handled proportionately in light of current Crown Court pressures, and on ensuring they operate as efficiently as possible. This Part I focuses on the former and puts forward a radical suite of reforms. What are the key findings of this report? The report opens with the stark assessment that criminal justice is in crisis, driven by prolonged funding constraints and the mounting complexity of criminal law—both procedural demands and the disclosure difficulties arising from new forms of evidence. It notes the rapid growth since 2019 in cases entering the Crown Court, alongside further delays brought about by coronavirus ( COVID-19). Its clear conclusion is that only a radical and essential package of measures,...

On 23 July 2025, the UK Supreme Court overturned the convictions of former City traders Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo. The justices concluded that procedural missteps by the trial judges rendered the outcomes unsafe. Their trenchant remarks about judges exceeding their remit, together with unease over how effectively the criminal appeal system corrects legal errors, have shifted attention onto the judiciary just as the government weighs scrapping jury trials in fraud cases altogether... Nick Brett, a partner at Brett Wilson, warned the ruling will only heighten concerns about further miscarriages of justice if the role of the jury is curtailed. Criminal defence lawyers have been unsettled since a major independent review, released on 9 July 2025, recommended that serious and complex fraud matters be determined by a judge sitting alone. The plan is designed to reduce the record backlog of 77,000 cases in the crown...

Known as OFSI, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has revised its UK financial sanctions guidance to incorporate...

Former UBS trader Hayes Ex- UBS trader Hayes was found guilty for manipulating the London Inter- Bank Offered Rate ( LIBOR) in 2015. LIBOR was designed to indicate banks’ costs of lending to one another. The Financial Conduct Authority phased it out and, by 2024, it had ceased being used. On 23 July 2025, his conviction was quashed, as was that of ex- Barclays trader Carlo Palombo, who had been convicted in 2019 for manipulating Euribor, the European counterpart. Hayes spent five and a half years in prison following convictions on multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud through LIBOR manipulation. He first received a 15-year sentence, cut to 11 on appeal. He has spent the past ten years seeking to clear his name. He was among 20 traders prosecuted by the SFO; seven were found guilty at trial and another two entered guilty pleas. In 2023, the...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Money laundering International Other corporate crime news Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct Standards of candour in closed hearings, and corporate witness statements ( Attorney General v BBC; R (‘ Beth’) v IPT) When scrutinising MI5’s actions across two High Court cases, the court addressed the grave consequences of presenting inaccurate material within closed hearings. It outlined the tightly confined situations that can justify a...

R v Hayes; R v Palombo [2025] UKSC 29 Background The appellants, Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, challenged their convictions for conspiracy to defraud, in August 2015 and March 2019 respectively. The allegation was that, together with others, they sought to influence crucial benchmark interest rates underpinning financial markets: for Mr Hayes, the London Inter‑bank Offered Rate ( LIBOR); and for Mr Palombo, the Euro Inter‑bank Offered Rate ( EURIBOR). A benchmark is an interest rate designed to mirror the prevailing cost of borrowing within a market, providing an indicative snapshot at a given moment. Such a rate serves as a reference for numerous transactions, among them financial derivatives and similar arrangements. Contributing banks were required to provide the rate at which that institution (for LIBOR) – or a prime bank (for EURIBOR) – could obtain funds at a particular time. The...

The US Department of Justice ( DOJ) under the Trump administration has signalled it will deploy every instrument at its disposal—including the FCPA and the Anti- Terrorism Act ( ATA)—to go after such targets. What, then, should compliance professionals understand about where FCPA and ATA risks intersect? At face value, the FCPA and ATA seem to address separate exposures: the FCPA tackles bribery of overseas officials, whereas the ATA centres on, among other matters, supplying material support to, or aiding and abetting, foreign terrorist organisations ( FTOs). In reality, though, these hazards can collide—especially in markets with significant FTO presence—producing concurrent exposure. Background On 20 January 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order No 14157, directing, among other measures, that specified international cartels and other transnational criminal organisations ( TCOs) be classified as FTOs. Since February 2025, the US State Department has...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Cross-border criminal investigations Prosecution decisions and alternatives to prosecution Criminal procedure and evidential matters Proceeds of crime Appeals and judicial review Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Food safety and hygiene offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Money laundering Corporate crime in Scotland International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct Ban on misconduct NDAs casts doubt on settlements The government’s plan to render non-disclosure agreements ( NDAs) void where they cover alleged workplace harassment and discrimination is expected to deter employers from resolving claims, adding strain to tribunals and early conciliation services. See News Analysis: Ban on misconduct NDAs throws settlements into question. DBT publishes independent review of Great Britain’s whistleblowing framework The Department for Business and Trade has released an independent review of Great Britain’s...

From the introduction of the orders in April 2024 up to 3 July 2025, the white-collar crime prosecutor has not applied for or secured any of them, per Gherson Solicitors LLP, which filed the information request. HMRC stated it had applied for fewer than five of either type of order, though precise figures could not be shared for fear of identifying the individuals concerned, the request reveals. The powers to issue the orders are intended to assist with the recovery of crypto assets, including bitcoin, which can be exploited as a vehicle for complex money laundering schemes, terrorist financing or drug trafficking. Financial Conduct Authority figures from November 2024 indicate that 12% of UK adults hold crypto......

The new guidelines The new guidelines mark a significant reorientation of anti‑bribery enforcement, centring on national security risks and safeguarding the capacity of American businesses to compete on a level field. They set out four non‑exclusive considerations for prosecutors when assessing FCPA matters: DOJ will elevate matters where bribery, whether directly or indirectly, enables the criminal activities of cartels and transnational criminal organisations ( TCOs). This has become a primary consideration in FCPA actions, with attention moving away from cases lacking this security dimension. Prosecutors are urged to deploy the FCPA to protect US economic interests and preserve fair competition for US companies, making schemes that disadvantage law‑abiding US firms a central focus. Priority will be placed on conduct tied to national security domains, including defence, intelligence, and critical infrastructure. Efforts should concentrate on serious wrongdoing, rather than expending resources on alleged minor, routine business practices or de...

Online Following IOSCO’s statement, on 28 May 2025 the European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) revealed it had contacted a number of social media and platform firms, urging proactive measures to curb the promotion of unauthorised financial services and drawing attention to IOSCO’s drive (see: ESMA urges social media platforms to prevent unauthorised financial promotions, LNB News 28/05/2025 39). “ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Credited to Benjamin Franklin amid fire risks in Philadelphia in 1736, the maxim is equally apt for online harms in financial services, an area of mounting regulatory concern as digitalisation accelerates and retail involvement in capital markets expands. Thus far, supervisors have struggled to take effective action against those behind fraud, unauthorised activity and deceptive advertising enabled by social media. The cross‑border nature of many offenders’ operations, coupled with the practical...