The new Criminal Finances Bill setting out new anti-money laundering powers has had its first reading
On 13 October 2016 the Criminal Finances Bill (the “Bill”) had its first reading in the House of Commons. In addition to introducing Unexplained Wealth Orders (described in our blog below), the Bill sets out a number of new anti-money laundering powers. The Bill will: enable the seizure and forfeiture […]
New crime bill to introduce Unexplained Wealth Orders
The Government is due to publish a new proceeds of crime bill tomorrow, which will introduce Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs), as reported in The Times (paywall). UWOs would allow the police to apply for an order to require individuals to explain their source of wealth where it exceeds their lawful income. […]
Home Affairs Select Committee concludes UK needs to do more to address money laundering and corruption
The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report entitled ‘Proceeds of Crime’ in which it is highly critical of the efforts being made and systems in place in the UK to prevent money laundering and to recover the proceeds of crime. Chair to the Committee, Rt Hon […]
UK’s Serious Fraud Office secures second deferred prosecution agreement – this time with the UK Subsidiary of US Corporate
Lord Justice Leveson has approved the Serious Fraud Office’s (“SFO’s”) second application for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”). The Agreement is with a company which cannot be named because of continuing related legal proceedings. The first DPA was with ICBC Standard Bank in December 2015. Further agreements under the DPA […]
Beyond the Bribery Act
A recent petition heard in the Scottish Court of Session Outer House has highlighted the wide-ranging implications of the Bribery Act 2010 in the UK beyond the criminal offences of the Act itself. The petition was brought by the former Chief Executive of a company, Mr Gray, who participated in […]
Backwards Tracing takes a step forward
The Privy Council recently extended the availability of ‘tracing’ in a novel way to increase the options available to states seeking to recover stolen property. Before this decision a state could only trace property that had been altered, say by sale or transfer, into the proceeds of that alteration if those proceeds did not exist […]
CooleyAR’s summer holiday
The team will be taking August to recuperate after a furious few months blogging and will return in the Autumn. However, before we pack our bags it is worth reflecting on David Cameron’s recent speech in Singapore where he addressed the threat posed by corruption worldwide. We were particularly interested […]
A proposal to extend beneficial ownership rules to UK land-holding foreign companies
A report published today by Global Witness, alleging that an individual with ties to a former Kazakh public official owns large swathes of London, follows much recent interest in the issue of public officials owning property in the UK via secretive corporate structures that conceal their interest. Earlier this month, an Early […]
What states should know about unjust enrichment
We close out our series of tip-sheets on the causes of actions available to states who have been victims of bribery and corruption with a note on unjust enrichment. This is an interesting claim that sets the bar a little lower than some of the previous claims we have reviewed. […]
What states should know about the contractual consequences of bribery
This week’s tip-sheet concerns the remedies available to states where they are party to a contract procured through bribery. We discuss the pros and cons of rescission and termination as well as the reasons why a state may choose to re-negotiate contracts that have been affected by bribery. We also consider the risk […]