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Global Focus on Anti-Corruption Increases

While the United States has announced a pause on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, the rest of the world is increasing its focus on prosecuting corrupt activities. This is a reminder to companies with a global footprint, including those headquartered in the U.S. that may not have physical operations overseas, that foreign activities likely fall … Continue Reading

UK Sanctions Update: OFSI Releases Financial Services Threat Assessment – Part 2

Last month, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s (“OFSI”) published a Threat Assessment analyzing sanctions compliance involving UK financial services firms since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. In the first of our two-part article (available here), we summarized the six key areas of risk that OFSI identified in its Threat Assessment. In this … Continue Reading

UK Sanctions Update: OFSI Releases Financial Services Threat Assessment – Part 1

In February 2025, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) issued a report outlining its assessment of the sanctions-related threats posed to the UK by firms operating in the UK’s financial services sector.  As to be expected, the report focuses on the risks associated with transactions since February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine … Continue Reading

UK Sanctions Update: New OFSI Reporting Requirements for High Value Dealers and Art Market Participants

Late in 2024, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”), the agency within His Majesty’s Treasury that is charged with the implementation of financial sanctions in the UK, introduced new sanction measures aimed generally at augmenting the operation and enforcement of UK financial sanctions and targeted specifically at High Value Dealers (“HVDs”) and Art … Continue Reading

Promising Results from Groundbreaking FinCrime Data Sharing Project Between Seven UK Banks and the National Crime Agency

In 2024, the National Crime Agency (the “NCA”), which is the UK’s lead agency against organized crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime, announced its “groundbreaking” data sharing partnership with seven UK banks, namely Barclays, Lloyds, Metro Bank, NatWest, Santander, Starling Bank, and TSB.[1] This new public-private partnership (“PPP”) was the largest … Continue Reading

Fast-Growing UK Challenger Bank Fined £29m for Insufficient Sanctions and Financial Crime Controls

On September 27, 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which is a financial regulatory body in the UK that regulates firms providing financial services to consumers, fined a UK Challenger Bank (the “Bank”) £29 million due to significant failings in its financial sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering systems and controls. The FCA’s Summary of Reasons … Continue Reading

Non-Financial Misconduct in the UK: A Thoughtful Initiative or a Hastily Conceived Concept?

Non-financial misconduct (“NFM”) within the financial sector has posed significant challenges for the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) for several years. The FCA handbook prescribes that regulated firms must assess and certify to the FCA, at least annually, that senior individuals and those performing regulated activities meet the relevant standards of fitness and propriety to … Continue Reading

Insider Dealing: Increasing Scope and Greater Focus from UK and US Enforcement – Are You up to Speed?

The UK and US enforcement agencies have been actively pursuing insider dealing (“insider trading”, in US parlance) since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. The UK and US have different securities enforcement regimes, but both have seen recent developments expanding the scope of conduct that can be prosecuted. For individuals and organizations trading across multiple jurisdictions, it … Continue Reading

The Price Cap on Russian Oil – Part 2: Updated OFAC Guidance

In our previous article on this topic (which you can read here), we analyzed recent enforcement activity by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) related to the maritime transport of Russian-origin crude oil and Russian-origin petroleum products above price caps agreed by the “Price Cap Coalition,” comprising Australia, Canada, … Continue Reading

The Price Cap on Russian Oil – Part 1: Increased OFAC Enforcement

In June 2022, the Group of Seven (“G7”) countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—decided to pursue a policy to cap the price of Russian oil. In December 2022, the G7 countries, joined by Australia and the supranational European Union (together, the “Price Cap Coalition”) officially implemented measures to ban … Continue Reading

Increased Corporate Transparency in the Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, has long been recognized as one of the world’s leading providers of institutionally focused financial services and a preferred destination for the structuring and domiciling of sophisticated and specialized financial services products, particularly investment funds.  However, for a number of reasons, the inherent risks to the Cayman Islands’ … Continue Reading

Noteworthy Trends in French White Collar Crime

France’s Sapin II Law was created in 2016 to address corporate corruption and implement antibribery measures. The legislation took effect in 2017, marking a significant shift in the country’s regulatory compliance landscape. The law, which tracks closely with similar laws in the US, UK, and other EU countries, requires large companies [1] to implement a … Continue Reading

FCA Investigates Bank Account Closures, Including for PEP Customers

Following concerns raised by the government of the United Kingdom (“UK”) about freedom of expression and the provision of banking services, the UK’s financial watch dog, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), recently commenced an investigation into bank account closures.  This action follows in the wake of recent reports of banks allegedly closing customer accounts based … Continue Reading

Increasing US Enforcement Action for Sanctions Violations by Crypto Exchanges Likely to Have Ripple Effect in UK and Europe

The investigation and enforcement of potential sanctions violations by crypto exchanges is an area of focus in the US at present.  The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent settlement with Kraken, a global virtual currency exchange, is the most recent OFAC case demonstrating the risks for virtual currency platforms … Continue Reading

UAE Ministry of Justice Confirms Reciprocity with the English Courts

On September 13, 2022, Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al-Blooshi, Director of the International Cooperation Department of the UAE Ministry of Justice, issued a communiqué to His Excellency Tarish Eid Al-Mansoori, Director General of the Dubai Courts, directing the Dubai Courts to enforce judgements issued by the English Courts (the “Directive”).  This follows the English Courts’ … Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Extends Territorial Reach of Wire Fraud Statute

The United States may prosecute foreign fraudsters using U.S. wires when their entirely foreign-based schemes use U.S. wires to victimize persons in the United States. That is the conclusion we draw from the Fourth Circuit’s decision in United States v Elbaz. The Elbaz court joined the Ninth Circuit in holding that the wire-fraud statute’s focus … Continue Reading

Russian Sanctions Update: Will “Biting” Eighth EU Sanctions Package Prohibit Legal Services?

“Russia should not benefit from European knowledge and expertise.”  That is the view of European Commission (“EC”) President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently proposed an eighth package of sanctions against Russia in response to “escalation” in Ukraine.  Among the “biting” new sanctions will be a wider ban on the provision of European services to … Continue Reading

Account Freezing and Forfeiture Orders: is the FCA waking up to its investigative powers?   

The author and editors would like to thank Eben Kurtz for his contributions to this post. On 21 April 2022, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) secured its first Account Forfeiture Order (“AFO”), a tool used for asset recovery under Part 5 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (”POCA”), for a sum of £2,000,000 against … Continue Reading

Law Commission Proposes Reforms to Corporate Criminal Liability in the UK

The proposal outlines 10 possible ways to bolster UK corporate criminal liability. The UK Law Commission, has published their proposals (the Options Paper) to overhaul criminal law as it applies to companies in the UK. The Law Commission is an independent commission created by Parliament to keep UK law under review and to recommend reforms. … Continue Reading

The UK’s OFSI Provides Guidance on Strict Liability Sanctions Breach Penalties

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, which is the authority for implementing financial sanctions in the UK, have published guidance to clarify how they will use their new powers to impose civil monetary penalties for sanctions breaches on a strict liability basis from Monday 15 June 2022.  The full message … Continue Reading

Responding to Financial Crime Risks during COVID-19

Over the past few months, numerous organizations and agencies—including the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force, UK Financial Conduct Authority, Dubai Financial Services Authority, and U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network—have stressed the need to preserve the integrity and security of the global payments system during and after the pandemic.… Continue Reading

Australia Plans to Join U.S. and U.K. in the CLOUD Act

Following its agreement with the United Kingdom, the United States announces formal negotiations are underway with Australia about joining the CLOUD Act. Although also a bi-lateral negotiation, the U.S. talks with Australia strike a more practical tone than those with the U.K.… Continue Reading

U.S. and U.K. Ease Data Collection Across Borders

Saying it will accelerate complex investigations, the United States and the United Kingdom proposed an historic data exchange agreement. In future, each government will be able to obtain electronic data directly from technology companies in the other country. The governments also say this first of its kind agreement will protect privacy and enhance civil liberties.… Continue Reading

Fugitive Diamantaire Faces Extradition from UK to India

A UK court recently fixed a remand hearing in the extradition case of Nirav Modi, a fugitive diamond merchant and the prime accused in a USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. After Vijay Mallya (Indian businessman) and Sanjeev Chawla (alleged cricket bookie), Mr. Modi’s case is the third in a series of … Continue Reading
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