Jun 24, 2022 Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: looking to upscale and upskill By Neill Blundell Helen Harvey Helin Gurel On Wednesday 22 June, the director of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”), Giles Thomson, speaking to the House of...
Jun 15, 2022 New strict liability offence for financial sanctions comes into force today, amongst others By Neill Blundell Francis Bond Jessica Arapu Following the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022’s expedited passage through Parliament in March 2022, the Office of...
Nov 11, 2021 “Now is the time to get the house in order”: US Department of Justice prepares to launch corporate crime crackdown By Neill Blundell Joe Gaffney The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing for an imminent crackdown on corporate crime, warning companies that they must get their...
Jan 14, 2021 No expansion of the failure to prevent offence... for now By Neill Blundell Max Hobbs FCA-regulated companies have been given a reprieve, as an amendment to the Financial Services Bill 2019–21 (FSB), which would have...
Dec 10, 2020 United States to pass historic anti-money laundering legislation, including first register of corporate beneficial ownership By Neill Blundell Francis Bond The United States Congress is expected to pass the country’s most significant anti-money laundering legislation in decades this week,...
Nov 06, 2020 Corporate criminal liability: Law Commission to examine reform By Francis Bond Neill Blundell The Law Commission will begin a review of the UK’s corporate criminal liability legislation, after the Government instructed the body to...
Jul 23, 2020 UK to invest £100m in stronger AML checks through tax on banks By Neill Blundell Francis Bond The UK is set to go ahead with a £100m investment in improving anti-money laundering systems, funded by a “levy” on financial...
Jul 16, 2020 Co-ordinated global anti-corruption settlements By Neill Blundell Francis Bond The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has indicated that further co-ordinated global anti-corruption settlements can be expected later this...
Feb 11, 2020 Contradictory sanctions regimes leave companies confused and exposed By Neill Blundell Francis Bond A special report by the Financial Times has investigated the tensions faced by companies struggling to navigate overlapping and sometimes...
Feb 10, 2020 Fine by me: could a small sanction for a breach of the SFO’s Section 2 Notice fail to deter non-compliance? By Neill Blundell Max Hobbs At the end of January 2020, the UK courts convicted an individual of failing to comply with the terms of a “Section 2 Notice” issued...
Feb 06, 2020 Explain yourself: the Court of Appeal rejects the challenge to the first UWO By Neill Blundell Max Hobbs The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal against the first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) issued in the UK, potentially paving the...
Dec 13, 2019 No need to explain: The Court of Appeal hears a challenge to the first UWOs By Neill Blundell Max Hobbs The wife of the former chairman of the international bank of Azerbaijan has been in the Court of Appeal challenging the unexplained...
Sep 27, 2019 There’s no place like home: the UK Court blocks the extradition of the subject of the first UWO By Neill Blundell On Thursday 26 September the UK Court ruled that the subject of the first set of unexplained wealth orders (UWO) in the UK, the wife of...
Sep 24, 2019 Towards a transatlantic model - Germany looks to shift on corporate criminal liability By Neill Blundell A distinct feature of Germany’s corporate criminal landscape may finally be coming to an end. Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice and...
May 29, 2019 The NCA strikes back: new Unexplained Wealth Orders target even more valuable London properties By Neill Blundell Max Hobbs The National Crime Agency (NCA) has obtained a second set of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) aimed at London properties worth at least...
May 02, 2019 Need for speed: SFO chief moves to expedite investigations by improving focus By Neill Blundell Francis Bond The head of the SFO, Lisa Osofsky, has made it clear that the SFO needs to improve the way it handles evidence in fraud and corruption...