At the end of 2023, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in Byers and others v. Saudi National Bank[1]. Unanimously dismissing the appeal, the Supreme Court definitively determined that a claim in knowing receipt cannot be brought if the claimant’s equitable interest in the relevant property has been extinguished – regardless of the fact that the recipient of the property was aware that it was being transferred to it in breach of trust.
A New DPA Sheriff in Town?
On 5 December 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Entain, a global online sports betting and gaming business (owner of Ladbrokes and Coral bookmakers) headquartered in London, to settle the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) investigation into the company and its group.
Corporate Criminal Liability Reform: How Much Further Can the UK Go?
The landscape for tackling corporate crime in the UK is undergoing significant change, with a focus on empowering enforcement agencies to further hold large corporates to account for the conduct of their employees and associated persons. On 26 October 2023, the Government passed a piece of landmark legislation in the form of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the act), which we previously reported on in this April 2023 post and this October 2023 post. A few short weeks later, on 14 November 2023, the Criminal Justice Bill (the bill) was introduced to the House of Commons.
When Are Redactions Reasonable?
The long-running investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) has provided several points of instructive guidance during its lifetime – and that trend looks set to continue. The most recent matter before the High Court[1] examined certain redactions the SFO made to a report it disclosed in the course of proceedings which were challenged by ENRC.
Are You Really Prepared to Prevent Fraud?
In a landmark day for regulatory authorities in the United Kingdom, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act came into force on 26 October 2023. The act will have a material impact on the manner in which the authorities combat money laundering, fraud and other economic crimes within the jurisdiction. Large companies doing business in the UK should be on notice that they will have to ensure that their compliance procedures are robust enough to withstand what is expected to be a renewed vigour from the authorities to hold large companies to account for the criminal actions of their employees, agents and subsidiaries.
UK Financial Conduct Authority Urges Social Media Platforms, Search Engines and Apps to Check Warnings of Non-Authorised Cryptoasset Businesses
Regardless of whether you are in the UK, or the type of technology you use, companies marketing ‘qualifying cryptoassets’ to customers in the UK will need to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s financial promotions regime. We published a Cooley alert summarising the regime in March 2023. Last month we noted that the FCA had published a “final warning†reminding companies promoting cryptoassets to UK consumers that they must get ready for the regime.
Marketing of Cryptoassets – UK’s Financial Conduct Authority Issues ‘Final Warning’
Regardless of whether you are in the UK, or the type of technology you use, companies marketing ‘qualifying cryptoassets’ to customers in the UK will need to comply with the financial promotions regime of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulator.
United Kingdom: Injunctive Relief Against Persons Unknown – The Ransomware Edition
On 11 July 2023, the English High Court handed down its decision on the claimant’s application in Armstrong Watson LLP v. Persons Unknown, granting judgment in default and final injunctive relief. Specifically, the court granted the claimant permanent injunctive relief against persons unknown – a group of unidentified hackers – for purposes of restraining the use and disclosure of confidential information that had been acquired by the hackers via a ransomware attack and to require deletion or delivery up of that information.
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
There have been extensive discussions on what the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill could mean for the conduct of business in the UK (for our views, see this 26 April 2023 On the Record blog post). Now, the government intends to use the bill as a vehicle to materially expand the historical trigger for corporate criminal liability – namely, the ‘identification principle’.
UK Government Gets Tough on Sanctions Evasion, Fraud and Money Laundering in Newly Published Economic Crime Plan
On 30 March 2023, HM Treasury and the Home Office published the Economic Crime Plan 2 for 2023 to 2026. The three-year plan builds on the first Economic Crime Plan published in 2019