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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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
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The convention has stood at the vanguard of global action against bribery and remains indispensable, given corruption erodes fair markets, hampers economic growth, weakens democratic institutions and damages the rule of law. Over the past twenty-five years, it has raised public consciousness and spurred statutory reforms across numerous countries, reshaped business behaviour and energised civil society. Yet it has also confronted enduring obstacles, including patchy enforcement and political headwinds. This piece reviews the convention’s achievements and difficulties, and underscores its role in expanding transparency and accountability around the world. Background The convention is a binding international accord among signatories that commit to outlaw the bribery of foreign public officials and to undergo rigorous peer evaluation of progress in putting the convention into effect. Parties must hold companies and individuals to account through effective and proportionate penalties, and extend mutual legal assistance to overseas...
In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions Financial crime Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Data protection King's Speech 2024—key information law announcements On 17 July 2024, during the first State Opening of Parliament of the newly elected government, His Majesty King Charles III set out the administration’s programme and legislative priorities. For Information Law, the principal measures highlighted are the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill alongside the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. Commentary on the King’s Speech 2024 is provided by Rhiannon Webster, partner and head of UK data privacy and cybersecurity at Ashurst, Jason Raeburn, partner at Paul Hastings, and Edward Machin, counsel at Ropes & Gray. See: LNB News 17/07/2024 62......
The parliamentary vote earlier this month saw parties fix on headline voter worries: the economy, the cost-of-living crisis and healthcare. With a commanding lead in the polls, Labour avoided spooking the horses or appearing anti-business by holding back from heavy new corporate rules, preferring caution over setting out onerous regulations for companies. Now, however, in office with a sizeable majority, it may move to tighten the screws decisively on money launderers and other financial offenders—potentially as soon as 10 July 2024, when its priority legislative programme is set out in the King's Speech ceremony. Legislation As an opening step, ministers could revive the Criminal Justice Bill, which fell in the pre-election rush to push through outstanding laws. Although it made headlines for controversial plans aimed at issues such as rough sleeping, the bill also contained reforms designed to help prosecutors more readily seize illicit,...
Sir Keir Starmer, the newly elected Prime Minister, previously worked as a leading criminal defence barrister and as Director of Public Prosecutions. Accordingly, we can anticipate an administration led by a premier with clear, robust views on policy and law-making around financial crime, and on the criminal justice system more generally. Starmer’s principal choices for the relevant ministerial and law officer positions are, however, not drawn from classic white-collar backgrounds: Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to face a bulging in-tray, tackling prison overcrowding and a faltering courts system. The new Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC, is a heavyweight practitioner in human rights as well as public and private international law. Only Home Secretary Yvette Cooper continues from the opposition team that produced ‘ Labour's Policy Review: Tackling Serious Fraud and White Collar Crime’ in 2022. A look at the 2024 Labour Party...
Risk & Compliance weekly highlights—11 July 2024 In this issue: Financial sanctions Other financial crime Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions Examining the EU sanctions directive approach to breaches Law360: In April 2024, the EU adopted Directive 2024/1226, which makes breaches of sanctions a criminal matter. The directive is expected to reshape EU sanctions enforcement by harmonising how violations are treated across member states, and by introducing shared definitions of criminal offences and penalties. See News Analysis: Examining the EU sanctions directive approach to breaches......
The directive marks the culmination of a complex process. First, the EU needed to add the breach of EU sanctions rules to the catalogue of EU crimes. This occurred on 22 November 2022 via Decision 2022/2332, the first expansion of the list since the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon. Soon after that decision, the European Commission tabled a draft directive to foster a common, effective sanctions enforcement approach across member states. The directive has now entered into force, and member states have 12 months to transpose it into national law. In this article, we sketch the main contours of the new directive, including fresh offences, potential liability for infringements and a clearer route for voluntary self-disclosures. Key aspects Scope The directive applies to breaches of ‘restrictive measures’ adopted under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union or Article 215 of the Treaty on the...
The party has historically supported tougher measures against corporations and proposed reviewing the funding of the Serious Fraud Office ( SFO) Having swept into office on 4 July 2024, after 14 years out of power, it plans to step up efforts against fraud—which represents 41% of all crime—and kleptocracy. Under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, formerly the UK’s chief public prosecutor, the administration will roll out a new fraud strategy to address the full breadth of threats set out in Labour’s pre‑election promises. The party has also backed closer scrutiny of the Serious Fraud Office’s funding. These encompass: online threats; risks to the public sector. Louise Hodges, head of criminal litigation at Kingsley Napley LLP, noted the government could find a strong collaborator in a newly energised Serious Fraud Office, ready to concentrate on domestic fraud, run high‑profile operations and adopt a more...
Additionally, some EU nationals delivering services to their Russian subsidiaries will not need to secure a licence. By contrast, UK sanctions on Russia have never included the so‑called partner countries’ subsidiaries exemption, so UK businesses or UK nationals supplying business services to Russian entities have always had to seek a licence. For context, after the EU adopted its 12th sanctions package on 19 December 2023, the partner countries’ subsidiaries exemption was scheduled to be withdrawn over six months. Accordingly, from 20 June 2024, EU companies and EU nationals must obtain a licence from the competent authorities of the Member States to provide business services or software to their Russian subsidiaries. In this article, we analyse how the German, French, Italian and UK regimes are addressing this question. Restricted services and software From 30 September 2024, EU entities will be prohibited from supplying specified business...
Risk & Compliance weekly highlights—4 July 2024 In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other Risk & Compliance updates this week Lex Talk®Risk & Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions OFSI issues General Licence INT/2024/4888228 on payments for statutory audits The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI), together with HM Treasury, has introduced General licence INT/2024/4888228 addressing payments for statutory audits. Taking effect on 27 June 2024, the licence authorises fees to be paid to Statutory Auditors for a statutory audit by a designated person ( DP), or by another party on a DP’s behalf. See: LNB News 01/07/2024 45. OFSI updates General Licence on Oil Price Cap Exempt Projects and Countries OFSI and HM Treasury have amended General licence...
SRA board clears plan to regulate CILEX members On 1 July 2024, the SRA announced its board had approved proposals to oversee Chartered Institute of Legal Executives ( CILEX) members, following more than two years of talks and negotiation. The move is not final, though. In a statement issued the same day, the SRA explained that, should CILEX choose to proceed, any redelegation would still require sign‑off from the Legal Services Board. The board’s resolution could mark the culmination of a process set in motion in January 2022, when CILEX first asked the SRA to take over from its own dedicated regulator, CILEX Regulation Ltd ( CRL). Since then, at least four separate consultations have been carried out and the LSB has undertaken an investigation. In reflecting on the change since CILEX approached the SRA, Anna Bradley, the SRA’s chair, said the...
On 27 June 2024, the Court of Appeal held that the NCA acted unlawfully by declining to probe imports of cotton linked to forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region. Reversing a 2023 High Court decision, the appeal judges found the agency had misapplied its own investigative framework under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) when dealing with suspected illicit assets. ‘ It’s a game changer’, said Matthew Banham of Seyfarth Shaw ( UK) LLP. ‘ Corporations now have an obligation to make sure they are not committing money laundering offences through their supply chains.’ Crucially, the court ruled the NCA does not need hard proof of criminal conduct before commencing a proceeds-of-crime inquiry. It further determined that criminal property—here, cotton produced through forced labour—is not invariably purified or legitimised by later payment of market price. Lloyd Firth of Wilmer Hale noted the...
Risk & Compliance weekly highlights—27 June 2024 In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Data protection EU e Privacy draft is widely expected to be shelved in favour of data retention, cookie and digital advertising measures. MLex reports that publishers, platforms and online advertisers look set to see the long-stalled EU e Privacy Regulation finally scrapped after many years mired in protracted legislative negotiations. See News Analysis: EU e-privacy proposal set to be pulled in favour of data retention, cookie and digital ad rules. Balancing rights and the continued importance of EU case law in the UK—under what specific conditions can a data controller decline to reveal third-party identities in response to a data subject access request?......
Harrison v Cameron and another company [2024] EWHC 1377 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment provides helpful clarification for data controllers on handling DSARs. It also confirms that company directors, when acting in that role and processing data for their company, are not controllers; the controller is the company alone. Article 15(1)(c) of the UK GDPR The decision carries important implications for the reading of Article 15(1)(c). It confirms controllers must disclose the identities of personal data recipients, not merely categories, unless an exception applies (ie identification is impossible, or the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive). Organisations may wish to revise internal procedures so the default is to provide identities rather than categories. More broadly, documentation and records should be reviewed and kept up to date to record recipient identities, so this information can be easily provided if...
According to the judgment, Rotenberg’s past role as the majority shareholder of Gazprom Drilling — Russia’s largest drilling enterprise overseen by the gas giant Gazprom — was, on its own, insufficient to establish that he derived advantage from Russian decision-makers. Yet, when RT- Invest Transport Systems obtained the management of an electronic toll-collection project valued at about €108m without a competitive tender, Rotenberg benefited once he assumed the post of managing director, the General Court determined. As a result, the freezing of Rotenberg’s assets — a Moscow resident whose fortune was estimated at US$1.1bn in 2018 — was considered justified to help bring an end to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the court ruled. The Council of the EU imposed sanctions on Rotenberg in September 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022......
When it takes effect, section 17 of the Act will render void any clause that seeks to bar a victim from sharing information about criminal conduct with law enforcement, professional advisers, regulators, or close family members. The measure was expedited ahead of Parliament’s dissolution on 30 May 2024, following a Ministry of Justice announcement on 28 March 2024 targeting the misuse of nondisclosure agreements ( NDAs). It coincides with intensifying regulatory and political attention on how NDAs are employed. Below, we outline the key context and emphasise that anyone drafting or relying on NDAs should evaluate their suitability and reach on a case-by-case basis. Increased scrutiny on NDAs There are numerous proper purposes for NDAs, such as safeguarding commercial, sensitive, or confidential material that is being shared. NDAs have also traditionally been included in settlement agreements connected to the ending of employment for a range of...
Risk & Compliance weekly highlights—20 June 2024 In this issue: Risk & Compliance forecast Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Risk & Compliance forecast New Risk & Compliance forecast as at 18 June 2024 Our latest Risk & Compliance forecast, dated 18 June 2024, is now live and available. In this month’s update, we cover: (1) the forthcoming FATF review of the UK’s efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist funding and proliferation financing; (2) changes to the AML supervisory framework; (3) a fresh SRA consultation, including proposals to increase compensation fund contributions; and (4) the Council of the EU’s formal adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ( CSDDD). See News Analysis: New Risk & Compliance forecast as at 18 June 2024......
What does the EU AI Act say about this? Under the EU AI Act: A Provider is a person or body that creates (or has created on its behalf) an AI system or general purpose AI ( GPAI) model and is the first to place it on the EU market; or, for an AI system, directly supplies it under its own name or trade mark for initial use to a Deployer within the EU. A Deployer is a person or body that uses an AI system under its authority in the EU, except where the system is used for personal, non‑professional activity. In broad terms, you can view a Provider as the developer of an AI system, and a Deployer as a professional user of that system. A person or body is caught by the EU AI Act regardless of where they are...
New Risk & Compliance forecast as at 18 June 2024 Our Risk and Compliance forecast as at 18 June 2024 charts anticipated regulatory shifts relevant to risk and compliance, enabling you to prepare for developments that could affect your organisation. Please read it closely, though key points to keep in view are summarised below. New items we’re tracking this month FATF assessment of the UK — FATF is set to launch its fifth round reviewing global action on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. The UK will face an in-depth peer evaluation, leading to a new Mutual Evaluation Report due for release in 2028. See: AML, CTF and counter-proliferation financing SRA consultation on its draft business plan and budget — The SRA has opened a consultation on its 2024–2025 draft business plan and budget. It has indicated that responses will shape practising fees for...
See Q& A: which civil or criminal personal liabilities might a nominated officer (also known as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer, or MLRO) or a Money Laundering Compliance Officer ( MLCO) face in post, and what is the basis for that liability? Nominated officer The nominated officer (also referred to as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer, or MLRO) is the individual appointed to receive and assess suspicious activity reports ( SARs) under the Terrorism Act 2000 ( TA 2000) and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002). They are also responsible for submitting external SARs to the National Crime Agency ( NCA). Not every organisation is required to have a nominated officer. You must appoint one if the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds ( Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 ( MLR 2017), SI 2017/692 apply to your...
Labour — tipped to take office — alongside the ruling Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, rolled out glossy policy brochures chiefly centred on the economy, tax and immigration. For anyone seeking momentum in tackling dirty cash, the offerings were thin... Before Labour’s manifesto on 13 June 2024, prospects seemed brighter. Last month David Lammy, the party’s foreign affairs lead, pledged payments to whistleblowers who expose sanctioned entities hiding money. He branded corruption and money laundering in the UK as ‘toxic’, and vowed action against professional enablers — lawyers and accountants — who conceal illicit wealth for the affluent, a stance that would have galvanised campaigners. Yet those ambitions did not survive into the final document. Labour did promise to refresh the UK’s fraud strategy and involve tech platforms to reduce online fraud, but the current strategy, published in May 2023, already commits to...
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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 ]...
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