Authors: Kyle Wombolt and Anita Phillips
Kyle Wombolt, global head of corporate crime and investigations, and Anita Phillips, professional support consultant, have updated their guide to corporate investigations in China. This forms part of GIR’s acclaimed text, The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations 2019, third edition. It is regarded as the only text covering the nuts and bolts of multi-jurisdictional corporate investigations.
On 1 February 2019, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced significant changes to its licensing forms and processes (Licensing Reforms). Included in these changes was the long-awaited arrival in Hong Kong of measures intended to stop the “rolling” of “bad apples” within the financial industry by requiring licensed corporations and registered institutions to provide the SFC with more information about the circumstances under which their employees depart.
In addition to these reforms targeting “bad apples”, the Licensing Reforms also include:
The new licensing forms can be used from 11 February 2019. However, the SFC will accept current standard forms during a two-month transition period, before the new forms become compulsory from 11 April 2019.
We have been following these developments for some time and were part of the informal consultation held by the SFC in late 2018. We will be holding a seminar in Hong Kong to share our insights on how these developments will impact licensed corporations in Hong Kong and form part of broader conduct and culture-focused reforms across the Asia-Pacific region. Read our full client briefing and register for the seminar here.
The Final Report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Hayne Report) was released to the public on 4 February 2019. The Federal Government has agreed to take action on all 76 recommendations contained in the Hayne Report, and in a number of areas has indicated it intends to go further, including conducting an immediate review of financial counselling services. Herbert Smith Freehills have prepared a briefing paper which identifies the following key themes and reforms contained within the Hayne Report:
The briefing paper considers in detail the key changes recommended in the Hayne Report and what these changes will mean for businesses and the Australian financial services landscape.
Filed under Australia
In a recent decision, the High Court has ordered that documents provided to Tesco plc (“Tesco“) by the SFO for the purpose of negotiating a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA“) must be disclosed by Tesco in the separate civil action relating to the same subject matter, brought by its shareholders under s.90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA“): Omers Administration Corporation & Ors v Tesco plc [2019] EWHC 109 (Ch). The court reached this conclusion notwithstanding the fact that these documents were obtained by the SFO from third parties using its powers to compel the production of information/documents under s.2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“CJA“), and provided to Tesco during the DPA process on the understanding between the SFO and Tesco that the information they contain would be kept confidential. In this briefing, our litigation team considers the rationale for and implications of the decision. Continue reading
Filed under Commercial Litigation, Corporate Crime, Investigations, UK
Authors: Susannah Cogman, Partner, London; Daniel Hudson, Partner, London; Jonathan Cross, Counsel, New York; Geng Li, Associate, New York; and Christopher Milazzo, Associate, New York.
On January 28, 2019, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced the designation of Venezuelan state-owned oil producer Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”), which follows the White House’s earlier announcement recognizing Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaidó as the Interim President of Venezuela. The sanctions are significant because PdVSA has a monopoly in the Venezuelan oil sector and contributes significantly to Venezuela’s foreign trade income. Concurrent with the designation announcement, OFAC also issued a number of general licenses that authorize a range of activities involving PdVSA and its subsidiaries.
In this bulletin we cover the following key developments in the payments and fintech space:
For more information on the key developments in the payments and fintech space and the implications of the Payment Services Bill, Sandbox Express and Guide to Digital Token Offerings, please see our full bulletin here.
Filed under Asia
Last month, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a circular, a report and a self-assessment checklist to provide guidance on the standards expected of licensed corporations (LCs) regarding internal controls for the protection of client assets and supervision of account executives (AEs). For our full briefing, please click here.
Filed under Hong Kong
The UK FCA and PRA propose to implement the TPR if the UK leaves the European Union on 29 March 2019 without an implementation (or transitional) period, to ensure that EEA firms currently operating under an incoming passport (either from a UK branch or on a cross-border services basis into the UK) can continue to carry out regulated activities in the UK until they receive new direct authorisation by the UK regulators. For more information, please see our HSF briefing – UK Temporary Permissions Regime placemat
Filed under UK, UK Regulations, UK-EU Negotiations
It is anticipated that in around mid-2019, the Insurance Authority (IA) will take over the regulation of insurance intermediaries from the three self-regulatory organisations (SROs). In preparation for the commencement of the new regime, the IA has launched several public consultations on guidelines and rules. For our full briefing on these developments, please click here.
Welcome to the December 2018 edition of our corporate crime update – our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters.
This month, we would like to wish all of our regular readers a very happy, and hopefully corporate crime free, festive season!
For the full update on each jurisdiction, please click on the name of the jurisdiction below. Continue reading
Filed under Announcements, Asia, Australia, Bribery and Corruption, Corporate Crime, Dubai, Europe, European Guidance, Hong Kong, India, Investigations, Investment Funds, Malaysia, Middle East, Philippines, Sanctions and Money Laundering, Sector Updates by Herbert Smith Freehills, Thailand, UK Government
