Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

UK corporate crime 2020: Barclays acquittals, Unaoil convictions, DPAs with compliance monitors, dishonesty test clarified, and UWO limits

Published on: 22 December 2020

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

This is a retrospective on some of the most notable corporate crime cases to reach the courts in 2020.

Serious Fraud Office’s Barclays case collapses

In February 2020, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) endured a bruising loss when a jury cleared three ex-Barclays plc directors of fraud linked to the bank’s financial-crisis fundraising, prompting doubts about the wisdom of pressing on through two trials and repeated courtroom reverses. The Old Bailey prosecution had been weakened by a series of heavy blows starting in 2018, when charges against the bank itself were thrown out. In 2019, midway through the trial of the individual defendants, the presiding judge directed the acquittal of former Chief Executive John Varley. According to Neil Williams, legal director at Rahman Ravelli, warning signs should have sounded once the Court of Appeal backed the ruling that the bank should not be prosecuted. He said the SFO’s stubborn pursuit of the individuals, even to the point of retrials, made it resemble a punch-drunk fighter unaware they have been beaten. Central to the case was the claim that the bankers misled the market. The outcome prompted scrutiny of the SFO’s strategy after successive defeats in the courts over the case...

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