Welcome to the March 2016 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Our update now covers a number of jurisdictions. For the full update on each jurisdiction, please… Read more

Regulators throughout the world are increasingly focused on holding individual corporate executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing. Recent pronouncements by the U.S. Department of Justice, legislation in the United Kingdom imposing liability on senior managers, and detentions of senior executives in… Read more

The Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) entered into force on 12 January 2016.  The SFTR has a broad scope with extraterritorial and retrospective reach, and impacts on both EU and non-EU financial and non-financial counterparties.  All firms involved in securities… Read more

Welcome to the October 2015 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Our update now covers a number of jurisdictions. For the full update… Read more

Now may be the time to review your cyber risk mitigation strategy and give serious consideration to whether the financial cost of cyber attacks could be transferred to insurers at a fair price. Cyber security is amongst the leading risks… Read more

The US Supreme Court has granted RJR Nabisco's request for clarification of the test for determining the extraterritorial reach of the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  ... Read more

In a note published last week, ratings agency Standard & Poors (S&P) said it viewed banks as natural targets facing a high threat of cyber-risk, although it considered the global credit risk of a cyber attack to be only medium, because it… Read more

After many hours of intense negotiation, agreement has been reached on the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) concluding a final lengthy round of negotiations in Atlanta, USA on 5 October 2015 (Washington DC time). The full text of the agreement (constituting… Read more

The US Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in United States v. Newman and Chiasson, in which the Second Circuit overturned the convictions of two hedge fund managers on the basis that the insider tipper did not receive a… Read more

When a company conducts an internal investigation in respect of a potential regulatory issue, it will wish to maximise the extent to which materials produced in connection with the investigation are protected by privilege. If privilege is protected from the outset, the company… Read more

Welcome to the September 2015 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Our update now covers a number of jurisdictions. For the full update… Read more

The US has taken further steps towards normal trade relations with Cuba by amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations in order to relax US sanctions against Cuba. These actions follow other important milestones achieved since US President Barack Obama and… Read more

The US Department of Justice ("DOJ"), in a memorandum issued to all federal prosecutors on Wednesday September 9, 2015, directed prosecutors to focus on seeking accountability from culpable individuals in their investigations of corporate wrongdoing.  Additionally, the memorandum emphasized that… Read more

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued two new equity and debt research rules, which have been approved by the SEC. ... Read more

The second quarter of 2015 saw continued regulatory focus on market and benchmark misconduct: the FCA and the US regulators imposed a series of record-breaking fines.  The FCA's latest Board minutes refer to a strong pipeline of expected cases, and… Read more

The Ninth Circuit, in a decision issued on July 6, 2015, has upheld the insider trading conviction of Bassam Yacoub Salman for insider trading securities fraud (United States v. Salman, 2015 WL 4068903 (9th Cir. 2015)).  Salman traded based upon… Read more

In the early hours of July 14, 2015, it was announced that the P5+1/EU3+3 and Iran had reached agreement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran's nuclear program (the "JCPOA"). This builds on the framework announced in April… Read more

The SEC is understood to have subpoenaed a number of firms in connection with an investigation into the sale of private pre-IPO technology stocks, following an increase in the trading of these private shares.  ... Read more

The US Department of Justice's FIFA indictment may require certain banks to review any of their FIFA-related transactions, as well as test their compliance policies and procedures relating to compliance with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering laws.  The indictment says the facilities of 26… Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") indictment of various individuals and companies relating to FIFA has made front-page news around the world.  Our team in New York consider the effect that the indictment may have on the organization of FIFA… Read more

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has recently issued a Regulation 30.10 order to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong, which will exempt SFC licensed futures or options traders (subject to satisfying certain conditions) from, amongst others,… Read more

2014 was marked by record fines for benchmark manipulation globally, criminal prosecutions for insider trading and market manipulation, and the first publication of warning notices.  The start of 2015 has seen some notable cases in the UK, US and Australia,… Read more

On April 2, 2015 representatives from the US, EU and Iran announced that, following extensive negotiations, the "P5+1" (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US) and Iran had agreed parameters (the "Parameters") for a joint comprehensive plan of… Read more

On Monday, 9 March 2015, President Obama signed an executive order declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat to US national security and foreign policy posed by "the Government of Venezuela's erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of… Read more

Welcome to the February 2015 edition of our corporate crime update - our round-up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Our update now covers a number of jurisdictions. For the full update on each jurisdiction/region, please… Read more

The SEC's administrative court approved a settlement between the SEC and the Chinese affiliates of PwC, Ernst & Young, KPMG, BDO and Deloitte, fining each $500,000 for not having complied with an SEC disclosure order.  ... Read more

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York recently granted a motion to compel the production of documents gathered during an internal investigation, finding that neither the attorney-client privilege nor the work product doctrine protected the documents… Read more

On 21 January 2015, the United States Securities Exchange Commission  announced sanctions against credit rating firm, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P), which include payments in the total sum of US$58 million and an undertaking by S&P to take a… Read more

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has interpreted 28 U.S.C. § 1782 as granting a US district court discretion to order the production of documents in support of a foreign criminal investigation. ... Read more

On 15 January 2015, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) within the US Department of Commerce issued amendments to the Export Administration Regulations to implement the policy changes announced by President Obama on 17 December 2014 concerning US-Cuba relations. … Read more