Featured documents
R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
Most recent News
As at 24 September 2024, our Practice Compliance forecast monitors proposed regulatory developments impacting law firm compliance, helping you prepare for any changes that could affect your organisation. Please review it thoroughly; key points that should be on your radar are highlighted below. New items we’re tracking this month Annual frozen asset reporting exercise — the government has issued a reporting notice and accompanying form for the annual frozen asset reporting exercise, which must be submitted to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) by Monday 11 November 2024. ......
Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programmes ( ECCP) Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant lawyer general and chief of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, stated in prepared remarks at a Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics conference that prosecutors will scrutinise how companies gauge and handle the risks of new technology, including AI, across both their business and their compliance programmes. Under the ECCP policy, prosecutors will consider: the technology a company and its staff use to conduct business; whether the company has carried out a risk assessment on the use of that technology; and whether appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate any risk associated with its use. She added that the division also wants to know whether firms are monitoring and testing their technology to assess if it operates as intended and aligns with the firm’s code of conduct. Argentieri said the ECCP was further updated to include...
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF and counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Cybersecurity Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions Government announces launch of Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation ( OTSI) in October 2024 The government intends to establish the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation ( OTSI) inside the Department for Business and Trade in October 2024. OTSI’s remit will cover civil enforcement of specified trade sanctions concerning UK services and international commerce. It will have the power to levy financial penalties, with any penalty for a breach assessed on a ‘strict liability’ basis. The Trade, Aircraft and Shipping Sanctions ( Civil Enforcement) Regulations 2024 ( SI 2024/948), conferring these enforcement powers, take effect on 10 October 2024. The...
The Serious Fraud Office ( SFO) 'was not entitled to withhold the information requested' on the ENRC investigation, the General Regulatory Chamber of the First- Tier Tribunal ( FTT) said. The General Regulatory Chamber of the First- Tier Tribunal ( FTT) has ruled that the SFO had no right to withhold the requested ENRC data and has directed the agency to release the figures within 42 days. The decision marks a win for George Greenwood of British newspaper The Times, who contested the UK Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) decision permitting the SFO to invoke freedom of information exemptions and withhold the figures. The prosecutor’s decade-long probe into ENRC, the UK arm of Kazakhstan-focused miner Eurasian Resources Group, concluded in August 2023 without any charges, and is thought to have racked up costs totalling tens of millions of pounds. In December, the High Court held the SFO...
Broadstone said that most cyber-insurance offered protection only against losses arising from 'malicious' causes, whereas the outage caused by Crowd Strike was the result of an accident. A mishandled update to the corporate cyber security system meant about 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices could not start up normally. The 19 July 2024 outage disrupted air travel, financial institutions and thousands of businesses. Medical teams were obliged to turn patients away from doctors’ surgeries......
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Rimmer quashed the conviction of Anna Machkevitch for not complying with an SFO requirement to provide documents relating to her father, Alexander Machkevitch—one of the trio of billionaire partners behind ENRC. Jonathan Hall KC of 6KBW, for the SFO, told the brief hearing that the agency accepted there was “no realistic prospect of conviction” and would tender no evidence against the appeal, and that it would not be resisting it either. In July, the SFO confirmed it would not contest Machkevitch’s challenge to the conviction......
In this issue: Financial sanctions Other financial crime Cybersecurity Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers Financial sanctions Revocation of General trade licence Russia sanctions – legal advisory services The Export Control Joint Unit and the Department for Business and Trade have announced that the General Trade Licence ( Russia Sanctions – Legal Advisory Services) was withdrawn with effect from 6 September 2024, following amendments to the Russia Sanctions Regulations. This General Licence had allowed the direct or indirect supply of legal advisory services to support compliance with specified laws or measures, including restrictive measures on or relating to Russia. See: LNB News 06/09/2024 44. Updates to guidance on Russian services sanctions The Department for Business and Trade ( DBT) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have refreshed guidance on meeting professional and business services sanctions concerning Russia. The revisions align the guidance with changes to...
In this issue: Financial sanctions Other financial crime Data protection Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions FCDO updates Russia sanctions guidance The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ( FCDO) has revised its guidance on the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855. Prohibition 46Z16R has been altered to refresh licensing details for Russian diamonds processed in third countries. See: LNB News 02/09/2024 27. OFSI to bring first penalty for sanctions violation this year Law360 reports that Britain’s sanctions enforcer will issue its first penalty for breaking the banning rules later this year, as the agency steps up action against Russian oligarchs whose assets have been frozen since the invasion of Ukraine, according to a senior Treasury official on 2 September 2024. See News Analysis: OFSI to bring first penalty for sanctions...
Signature Litigation LLP v Ivanishvili [2024] EWCA Civ 901 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal used this case to restate a well-known worry: as Lord Justice Coulson observed at [22], the 1974 Act has been widely criticised for not being updated to reflect modern practice. When the SA 1974 came into force, conditional fee agreements ( CFAs) were unlawful, and retainers were largely based on an ‘entire contract’ model, allowing costs to be fully quantified for any period while litigation was ongoing. That is not the position with conditional fee retainers, where the total costs payable (covering all additional liabilities) cannot be fixed until the litigation has concluded. Accordingly, solicitors should note that under any CFA—even a ‘discounted CFA’—interim invoices will not be final statute bills if an additional fee is intended to be added to that invoice once the case...
How is AI being utilised to facilitate financial crime and what type of activities should businesses be watching out for in the fight against financial crime? While AI and associated tools are among the most powerful means of combating financial crime—and their success is clear—they have limitations and introduce notable risks. AI acts as a force multiplier for criminality, breathing new life into ‘old’ fraud through automation. It can increase the speed, effectiveness and persistence of money laundering, insider trading and cyber-attacks. AI can be used to: strengthen existing attacks—making threats harder for AML, anti-fraud, anti-virus tools and other filters to detect devise new attacks—by manipulating or fabricating data to create confusion and/or impersonate officials automate attacks—enabling large-scale financial crime with minimal effort Generative AI can produce synthetic identities using forged passports, driving licences and utility bills, then establish sham...
According to Giles Thomson, the head of financial sanctions at OFSI, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation agency will impose its first monetary penalties for a breach of measures targeting Russian elites and their enablers at some point before the end of the year. Speaking at an economic crime conference in Cambridge, in eastern England, Thomson said that the sanction would be pursued via the authority’s civil recovery powers. He did not make clear whether the case relates to a business or a private person. The official described the move as the outcome of complex investigations undertaken since the invasion of Ukraine, over that period......
Yet the likelihood of naming a successor to a post once regarded as virtually ministerial is still as murky as ever, prolonging a state of affairs branded by campaigners as a disgrace for a nation that likes to bill itself as a global leader against corruption. The anti-corruption champion answers to the Cabinet Office, the department responsible for supporting the prime minister and helping to keep the machinery of government running smoothly. Consequently, the prime minister sponsors the appointment. Since the inaugural appointment in 2004 there have been seven champions in all, with seasoned parliamentarians typically filling the brief. Previous intervals between holders have occurred, but the present hiatus is comfortably the longest. The champion’s function is to scrutinise the government’s delivery of pledges set out in its anti-corruption strategy, last refreshed in 2017 to cover the period up to 2022. There has been no...
In this issue: AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data Protection Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Money laundering cases soar at crown courts, KPMG reports Law360: A KPMG report dated 28 August 2024 finds that, in the first half of 2024, the cumulative value of fraud prosecutions featuring money laundering before the crown courts has almost quadrupled over this period. See News Analysis: Money laundering cases surge at crown courts, KPMG says......
Money laundering with fraud has been the most common of this type of criminality by value in the past six months, according to KPMG. From January to June 2024, the courts handled nine cases with a combined value of £128.2m, set against four cases worth £32.6m in the same months of 2023, the Big Four accountancy company's mid-year fraud barometer reports. The biannual barometer, drawing on media sources, focuses on crown court cases alleging fraud of £100,000 and above. ' Money laundering remains a concern in the UK because the complexity and sophistication of financial systems can be exploited for illegal......
In this issue: Practice Compliance forecast Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Practice Compliance forecast New Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 August 2024 Our updated Practice Compliance forecast (as at 20 August 2024) is now available. This edition highlights the SRA’s AML and sanctions data collection exercise and indicates when guidance on the new failure to prevent fraud offence is expected. See News Analysis: New Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 August 2024. Financial sanctions OFSI updates UK Financial Sanctions FAQs The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) has revised its FAQs, which provide concise guidance and technical details on financial sanctions. Twenty new questions have been added to the Russia section. These were previously within OFSI’s Russia sanctions guidance and have now been...
Our Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 August 2024 Monitors anticipated regulatory developments affecting law firm compliance, enabling you to prepare for any shifts that could impact your organisation and future planning needs......
What is the background to this case? On 6 May 2022, via an ex parte, without-notice application, the NCA secured nine Account Freezing Orders ( AFOs) under sections 303Z1 and 303Z3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002), each lasting 12 months. Allegations were made that persons and entities connected to Petr Aven—described as a ‘prominent Russian businessman and pro- Kremlin Oligarch’—had effected suspicious payments and/or were retaining monies for his benefit around the time of his designation by the EU on 28 February 2022, and subsequently by the UK on 15 March 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Those persons and entities included Ingliston Management Ltd, a UK-registered ‘service company’ owned by Stephen Gater, which has been responsible for the running of Mr Aven’s three UK homes and for meeting the domestic and personal expenses of Mr Aven and his...
This change in UK consumer law will: hand the CMA powers of direct enforcement, making it faster and simpler for the CMA to enforce consumer law broaden the tools available to the CMA (and the courts) to tackle consumer law issues, including significant fines further widen the list of codified breaches in UK consumer law These new powers stem from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which is expected to take effect in Autumn 2024. The shift to a new model of UK consumer enforcement—what has changed? Under the previous enforcement approach, while the CMA (and some other public bodies) could investigate breaches of consumer law, the authority to find a breach, halt the conduct and impose remedies rested with the UK courts. That route was often slow and uncertain, so the CMA usually sought voluntary...
In this issue Financial sanctions Other financial crime Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions OFSI issues General Licence in relation to insolvency proceedings associated with East West United Bank The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has released General Licence INT/2024/5028385 under regulation 64 of the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, permitting payments and other authorised activities linked to the insolvency proceedings of East West United Bank. The licence took effect on 9 August 2024 and will expire at 11:59 pm on 8 August 2029. See: LNB News 09/08/2024 35. OFSI amends General Licence INT/2022/2009156 OFSI has revised General Licence INT/2022/2009156, extending the range of permitted payments to UK insurers under the UK sanctions regime to include employers’ liability insurance. See: LNB News 09/08/2024 36......
Businesses affected In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell sharply as outages hit many large companies. Airlines drew the most focus after the total collapse of computer systems across numerous carriers led to flight cancellations, stranding travellers in airports worldwide. British Airways PLC reported cancelling roughly 131 flights between 19–21 July 2024. Across major airlines, more than 4,000 flights were cancelled on 19 July 2024 alone, and over 11,000 between 19–21 July 2024. For many carriers, disruption persisted into the following week. NHS hospitals and other medical providers were blocked from undertaking critical business functions and from accessing information required to deliver care. Likewise, some emergency response operators’ call centres went offline. Financial systems were also affected and became unusable, including trading platforms, banks, retail payment systems and other Microsoft-based transactional platforms. The monetary cost of the outage has yet to be...
Popular documents
When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
Discover more from LexisNexis
