On August 5, 2019, President Trump issued a new Executive Order (“EO“), blocking all property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela (defined to include the Central Bank of Venezuela and Petróleos de Venezuela (“PdVSA“)) in the US or in the possession of US persons. The EO also empowers the Secretary of Treasury, … Read more
In our Corporate Crime & Investigations podcast we look to bring you timely and incisive commentary on key developments in the CC&I space. In this inaugural episode we take a look at the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) landscape. In particular we set in context the latest DPA agreed between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and … Read more
In a recent decision, the Commercial Court has upheld a financial institution’s decision to exercise its contractual right to close a customer’s accounts and terminate its relationship without notice, where the financial institution had a suspicion that its customer’s accounts were being used for money laundering purposes: N v The Royal Bank of Scotland plc … Read more
Last Friday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published its money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk assessment report for the stored value facility (SVF) sector in Hong Kong. The latest assessment confirms that the SVF sector continues to carry a medium level of ML/TF risk. While the majority of the sector continues to be … Read more
Please click here to access a preview of the Guide. We are pleased to launch the 2019 edition of our Asia Pacific Guide to Privilege. Businesses are increasingly faced with multi-jurisdictional disputes where evidence rarely falls within the borders of a single country and complex legal privilege issues often surface when dealing with communications across … Read more
This newsletter summarises recent Russian regulation, enforcement and court practice developments which may be relevant for doing business in Russia from a corporate crime and investigations perspective. Additionally, this newsletter spots some US and other relevant developments which should be kept in mind by Russian businesses having foreign parents or operations. Read more
The SFC has recently published its Statement on the conduct and duties of directors when considering corporate acquisitions or disposals. The statement: outlines the recurring types of misconduct relating to corporate acquisitions and disposals which the SFC observed over the past two or so years, since it adopted a front-loaded regulatory approach; reminds listed company … Read more
On 4 July 2019, Mr Justice William Davis approved a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA“) agreed between the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO“) and Serco Geografix Ltd (“SGL“), a wholly-owned subsidiary of outsourcing company Serco Group plc (“Serco Group“). SGL has agreed to pay £22.9 million, comprising a financial penalty of £19.2m and the full amount of … Read more
