On May 14, 2020, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the US Department of State, and US Coast Guard issued a Sanctions Advisory for the Maritime Industry, Energy and Metal Sectors, and Related Communities (the "Advisory"). The Advisory focuses on Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and offers information about, and tools to combat, emerging trends related to illicit shipping and sanctions evasion practices. Read more
Welcome to the Spring 2020 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Read more
On 8 May 2020, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) commenced a three-month industry consultation on a proposed framework for a mandatory reference checking scheme (MRC Scheme) to address the phenomenon of “rolling bad apples” moving between financial institutions without disclosing previous misconduct to their new employer. Read more
In this blog post, we round-up forthcoming developments in the UK and at EU and International levels in financial services regulation which are expected for May 2020. Read more
Two courts have dismissed charges against Barclays plc and Barclays Bank plc (together Barclays) relating to events flowing from the 2008 global financial crisis. They found that senior executives, including the CEO and CFO, did not represent the required “directing mind and will” of Barclays in the circumstances. Read more
On April 30, 2020, the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a Finding of Violation to American Express Travel Related Services Company (“AMEX”). OFAC’s findings, and its decision not to penalize AMEX, highlight three important sanctions compliance considerations for US and non-US companies alike. Read more
As discussed in our previous bulletin, Malaysia is anticipating the new corporate liability provision, i.e. Section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (“MACC Act”) to take effect on 1 June 2020. The new corporate offence under Section 17A of the MACC Act is applicable to the broadly defined “commercial organisation”, which not only includes Malaysia incorporated companies but also commercial organisations incorporated outside Malaysia that carry on business or any part of a business in Malaysia. Hence, companies with headquarters and offices overseas may potentially be caught by Section 17A should there be any part of its business operating in Malaysia. Read more
COVID-19 and the related lockdown restrictions are placing the UK criminal justice system under considerable pressure. In this briefing we discuss a number of COVID-19 related measures impacting the investigation and prosecution of economic crime, and the criminal justice system more broadly. We also touch on fraud risks and financial crime compliance considerations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, which we will discuss more fully in a future briefing. Read more
Germany is progressing towards a corporate sanctions law addressing the criminal conduct of companies, regarding executive bodies, managers and employees acting on behalf of the company. After the Federal Ministry of Justice unofficially released its draft "Act on the Sanctioning of Associations-Related Offences" ("Verbandssanktionengesetz", "VerSanG") in August 2019, we reported on the expected legislative changes in corporate criminal liability and internal investigations in Germany. On 22 April 2020, the Ministry of Justice officially published its (revised) draft bill. Read more
