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16 September 2016 - The English Court Rejects an Application by UK Company to End SFO Investigation: On August 17, 2016, the English courts rejected an application by UK oil and gas exploration company Soma Oil & Gas Holdings Limited (“Soma”) to force the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) to expedite or discontinue its investigation of the company’s dealings in Somalia. The SFO is investigating Soma for potentially improper payments to Somali government officials in the Ministry of Petroleum in order to secure exploration rights by the Somali government. Read more.
15 September 2016 - Key Energy Settles with SEC Regarding Alleged FCPA Violations: On August 11, Key Energy Services, Inc. agreed to pay $5 million to settle alleged violations of the FCPA. According to the SEC, Key Energy’s Mexican subsidiary made improper payments to an employee of Petróleos Mexicanos (“Pemex”) to induce him to provide inside information and assistance on contracts with Pemex. Read more.
14 September 2016 - SEC Brings Enforcement Action for Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule: On August 16, 2016, the SEC announced that Health Net, a California-based health insurance provider, will pay $340,000 to settle charges that it illegally used severance agreements requiring outgoing employees to waive their ability to obtain monetary awards from the SEC’s whistleblower program. This is the third enforcement action the SEC has brought for violations of Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act, which promotes whistleblowing to the SEC by providing in relevant part, “No person may take any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation including enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement . . . with respect to such communications.” Read more.
17 August 2016 - France Moves to Introduce New Anti-Bribery and Corruption Laws: The French Ministry of Finance is scheduled to introduce new anti-bribery and corruption laws under the Sapin II Bill (“Sapin II” or the “Bill”) later this year. The new proposals intend to overhaul France’s current anti-bribery and corruption system by introducing a corporate duty to maintain an adequate compliance programme, a new anti-corruption agency to oversee compliance with the new requirements, increased support for whistleblowers, and the removal of certain barriers to prosecuting companies for overseas offences. In addition to their requirements under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and U.K. Bribery Act, global companies that operate in France may need to review their compliance policies to ensure that they meet these new French requirements. Read more.
4 August 2016 - Sweeping Changes to Mexico’s Anti-Corruption Laws: After an aggressive grassroots campaign and under significant public pressure, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced the enactment of sweeping changes to Mexico’s anti-corruption laws on July 18, 2016. Read more.
27 July 2016 - SFO Announces Investigation into Unaoil Bribe-for-Contracts Scheme: This week, the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”), officially announced that it has been conducting a criminal investigation into Monaco-based Unaoil SAM, an oil industry consultancy firm. The investigation was launched in March of this year, spurring police raids of the offices and homes of the company’s officials. The investigation began on the heels of media reports by The Huffington Post and its Australian partner Fairfax Media which alleged that the company engaged in international bribery schemes to secure contracts in high-risk countries for its multinational clients. The SFO, however, does not cite specifically to these media outlets as their source, but instead contends that the agency has been approached by a number of sources. Read more.
25 July 2016 - The United Kingdom Secures Second Deferred Prosecution Agreement: On 8 July 2016, the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) received approval from the English court to enter into its second Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”) since their introduction in the United Kingdom in February 2014. The DPA relates to bribery offences committed by an unnamed U.K. company (“Company XYZ”) and comes less than a year after the SFO’s first DPA with ICBC Standard Bank PLC (“Standard Bank”) in November 2015. Read more.
15 July 2016 - European Commission Proposes Amendments to Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive: On July 5, 2016, the European Commission published a proposal for a directive that will amend the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (“4AMLD”) in an effort to counter terrorist financing and increase transparency to prevent tax avoidance and money laundering. The Commission determined that the evolving terrorism threat in Europe and the large-scale concealment of funds in offshore jurisdictions revealed by the Panama Papers necessitated these proposed amendments aimed at addressing gaps in the oversight of financial systems. Read more.
11 July 2016 - The United Kingdom Considers Extending Corporate Criminal Liability to Failing to Prevent Money Laundering and Fraud: The U.K. Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) is considering extending the existing offences of “failing to prevent” bribery and tax evasion to other economic crimes such as money laundering and fraud. The proposals were announced by David Cameron at the recent Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by the United Kingdom on May 12, 2016 and confirmed that same day by the MoJ. Read more.
24 June 2016 - Brexit – The U.K.’s Decision to Leave the European Union: The U.K. has decided to leave the European Union (“EU”) with a 51.9% vote to “Leave” the EU against 48.1% to “Remain”. This note briefly sets out next steps over the coming days, weeks and months and highlights some of the key issues that firms will need to address during this time. Read more.
13 June 2016 - EU Extends Sanctions Against Russia - for the Last Time? On 31 July 2016, the European Union (“EU”) will extend its economic sanctions against Russia for another six months. The EU has renewed these sanctions every six months since they were introduced for one year in July 2014 in response to Russia’s alleged annexation of Crimea. In 2015, EU leaders publicly linked repeal of these sanctions to Russia’s implementation of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. Despite the fact that Russia has not fully complied with that agreement, recent events across Europe suggest that this might be the last rollover of the full sanctions program. Rolling over the sanctions requires consent of all EU member states. Support for the sanctions is waning, however, in those member states most affected by Russia’s counter-sanctions on EU food exports. Read more.
2 June 2016 - Sovereign Investment Funds and AML Violations: Authorities in Switzerland announced on May 24, 2016, that they initiated criminal proceedings against private bank BSI due to allegations of money laundering. The Swiss attorney general’s office stated that it suspected “deficiencies in the internal organization of the BSI S.A. bank” and that these organizational deficiencies resulted in the bank’s inability to prevent certain criminal offenses under investigation relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysia state investment fund. BSI was ordered by Swiss authorities to hand over 95 million Swiss francs (approximately U.S. $96 million) in profits. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) also ordered BSI Bank to shut down its Singapore operations, the first time in 32 years that it has withdrawn a license from a merchant bank, and also imposed $13.3 million in financial penalties. The MAS also referred six senior BSI managers to prosecutors for further criminal investigation. Read more.
13 May 2016 - NCA and HMRC to Lead Taskforce to Investigate the Panama Papers: From early 2015, 11.5 million documents belonging to a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, were provided to a German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, who shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (“ICIJ”). The ICIJ shared these documents with 400 journalists at 107 different media organisations who kept them secret while they were reviewed in detail. The first news reports were published on 3 April 2016 when the documents became known as the “Panama Papers”. Read more.
29 April 2016 - National Crime Agency Agrees To Share Information With Transparency International U.K.: The National Crime Agency (“NCA”) has signed a memorandum of understanding to agree to share data with Transparency International U.K. (the U.K. branch of the prominent anti-corruption NGO). They aim to form a mutually beneficial relationship to give better insights into corruption trends and developments. Read more.
22 April 2016 - OECD Efforts To Identify And Mitigate Corruption Risks In Extractive Industries: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) has recognised a pattern of corruption risks in extractive industries based on a sample of 131 concluded and on-going cases. In a report published on 20 April 2016, the OECD outlines practical measures and incentives to combat corruption in both public and private spheres. Read more.
6 April 2016 - DOJ Announces Bigger Stick, Carrot, in FCPA Enforcement: Yesterday, the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Enforcement Plan and Guidance (the “Guidance”). The Guidance announces the DOJ’s commitment to intensify even further its campaign to detect and prosecute FCPA violations, along with newly articulated incentives for business organizations that self-report violations. Read more.
29 March 2016 - The Yates Memo: Have the Rules Really Changed?: On September 9, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates issued a memorandum to all federal prosecutors regarding “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing” (the “Yates Memo”). The Yates Memo built upon many years of guidance from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and announced certain policy shifts and best practices for prosecutors in their pursuit of civil and criminal actions against individuals in the context of investigations of corporate misconduct. While many of the guiding principles and policy pronouncements sounded strikingly similar to prior DOJ guidance, the Yates Memo contains at least two significant changes that companies should bear in mind when conducting internal investigations. Read more.
1 March 2016 - International Organization for Standardisation Releases Draft Standard for Anti-Bribery Management Systems: The International Organization for Standardisation has released a draft of ISO 37001 which addresses anti-bribery management systems. Read more.
9 February 2016 - Green Continues in Role as Director of the SFO: David Green QC, director of the SFO, has been given a two-year extension in the role until April 2018. Read more.
21 January 2016 - U.K. Launches Proceeds of Crime Inquiry: The U.K. Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into how effective the tools in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 work. The main focus of the inquiry will be to consider confiscation of criminal assets, an area where the SFO is regularly criticised. Read more.
2 January 2016 - Tom Hayes Libor Rigging Appeal on Conviction Fails: Tom Hayes, a former trader, who was convicted in August 2015 of conspiracy to rig global Libor rates, has failed to have his conviction overturned. He was however, successful in having his 14 year sentence reduced to 11 years. Read more.
January 2016 - U.S. Release Guidance on Changes to Sanctions Against Iran: Following the implementation of the first key milestone under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”), the U.S. Treasury has provided guidance on the changes to U.S. sanctions against Iran. Read more.
December 2015 - The U.S. and China Agree to Share Money Laundering Intelligence: The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and China’s Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center have entered into a memorandum of understanding to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. Read more.
1 November 2015 - U.K. Implements Global Supply Chain Disclosure Requirements: On 29 October 2015, Part 6 of the U.K. Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“MSA 2015”) came into force. The MSA 2015 has been described as a “historic milestone” by the U.K. Home Secretary and is representative of the increased focus on combating human trafficking in global supply chains that we have seen from both U.S. and U.K. regulators in recent months. Read more.
5 October 2015 - Bristol-Myers Squibb Settles with SEC over China FCPA Allegations: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company agreed to pay over $14 million to settle SEC administrative proceedings alleging FCPA violations from 2009-2014 in connection with payments to HCPs in China. Read more.
21 September 2015 - EU Extends Russian Sanctions by 6 Months: The EU has extended restrictive measures against Russia, imposed following Russian actions against Iran, for a further six months. Read more.
16 September 2015 - DOJ Steps up Rhetoric on Prosecuting Individuals as well as Corporations: On 10 September, Sally Yates, the U.S. Deputy Attorney General gave a speech and issued a memorandum to U.S. Federal Prosecutors on individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing in response to public criticism that the U.S. DOJ tends to focus on prosecuting companies rather than individuals. Read more.
11 September 2015 - Downfall of United CEO Illustrates Risk of Domestic Corruption: The resignation of United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek and two other senior executives amidst a broad corruption investigation on September 8 illustrates that domestic corruption can pose a similar significant risk as cross-border corruption to multi-national corporations and their executives. Read more.
4 September 2015 - Combatting Corruption in Developing Countries: Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, announced additional British efforts to combat corruption in developing countries through an International Corruption Unit (“ICU”). The ICU will draw together existing resources and investigative powers from the National Crime Agency (“NCA”), the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police to provide a multi-faceted approach. Read more.
31 July 2015 - HMRC Launches Consultation on New Corporate Offence of Failing to Prevent the Facilitation of Tax Evasion: On 16 July, HMRC published a consultation paper on the introduction of a new offence for corporations which fail to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. This consultation is one of the four consultations on harsher penalties for tax evasion which were previewed in the Budget 2015 and a recent publication “Tackling Evasion and Avoidance.” Read more.
23 July 2015 - Agreement Reached to Largely Eliminate Iranian Sanctions: After nearly two years of negotiations with Iran, the P5 +1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with Germany) reached an agreement to provide Iran much-needed sanctions relief in exchange for Iran taking concrete steps to prove its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. Read more.
14 July 2015 - Nuclear Deal Could Flood Global Markets with Iranian Oil: Iran and a U.S.-led coalition of six global powers announced early Tuesday that they reached a deal to severely limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. Read more.
9 July 2015 - Survey Reveals Low Awareness of Bribery Act among U.K. Small Businesses - A recent U.K. government survey of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) revealed that one-third of the surveyed companies were not aware of the 2010 Bribery Act, nor did they know that companies can be held liable for failure to prevent bribery. Even more of the surveyed companies (75%) did not know about Ministry of Justice (MOJ) guidance on the Bribery Act published in March 2011. Read more.
2 July 2015 - Legal Advice Privilege – HK Court of Appeal Steers Away from Three Rivers: On June 29, 2015, the Court of Appeal of the HKSAR handed down an important judgment relating to legal advice privilege. Read more.
22 June 2015 - DOJ Official Issues Warning Against Relying on Rarely Enforced Foreign Data Privacy Laws by Companies Seeking Cooperation Credit: Continuing with a spate of recent public statements about the DOJ’s current enforcement outlook, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell focused on DOJ’s expectations for companies hoping to receive cooperation credit from the Department in remarks to the New York City Bar at the White Collar Crime Institute. Read more.
12 June 2015 - Will Mexico’s New Anti-Corruption Law Lead to Actual Reform?: Mexico passed a new anti-corruption law that offers some hope that the country will progress beyond its ineffective system of ad-hoc appointments of czars and agencies to address corruption. Read more.
3 June 2015 - Employees of Swift Technical Found Not Guilty of Corruption Offences: Two employees of Swift Technical Energy Solutions, a U.K.-based company which provides manpower solutions to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, were found not guilty of conspiracy to corrupt. A third employee was discharged when the jury was unable to reach a decision. Read more.
1 June 2015 - Seven Year SFO Investigation Results in Guilty Plea: A seven year investigation by the SFO and City of London Police into the awarding of high value contracts in Egypt, Russia and Singapore has ended with a procurement engineer pleading guilty to three counts of conspiracy to corrupt. Read more.
27 May 2015 - Life Sentence for Cyber Criminals!: Cyber criminals can now face life imprisonment under a new offence in the Computer Misuse Act 1990 which came into force on 3 May 2015. The new offence under section 3ZA of the 1990 Act covers unauthorised acts in relation to a computer so as to “cause serious damage of a material kind ”. Read more.
13 May 2015 - DOJ Attempts to Clarify Corporate Cooperation Credit Expectations: In a recent speech at NYU Law School, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell attempted to provide guidance to companies seeking cooperation credit from the Justice Department. She warned of dire consequences if a company fails to cooperate, but stated that DOJ does “not expect companies to aimlessly boil the ocean” during internal investigations. Read more.
8 May 2015 - SEC Encourages Whistleblowers to Come Forward with Recent $600,000 Award: In a week of mixed messages for potential whistleblowers, the SEC announced a $600,000 whistleblower award in connection with its first anti-retaliation enforcement action, while the Wall Street Journal, relying on recently obtained public records, reported that 83% of the 297 whistleblowers who have applied for awards since 2011 have not yet received a decision from the SEC. Read more.
5 May 2015 - Implications of DOJ Sanctions Settlement with Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings: In an April 3 article published by Bloomberg BNA “Corporate Law & Accountability Report,” business & securities litigation partner Zach Brez and government enforcement associate Michael Casey examine takeaways from a plea agreement reached between the DOJ and Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings related to violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Read more.
27 April 2015 - Continuing Regulatory Focus on Bankers’ Conduct: FCA Announces Stricter Approach to the Regulation of Senior Managers of U.K. Banks: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has announced a new senior managers and certification regime, which will apply to senior managers of U.K. banks and buildings societies from March 2016. The changes to the FCA’s approved persons regime implement the recommendations of the U.K. Parliament’s Banking Standards Commission, which was set up to find ways to improve the culture and the conduct of individuals within the financial services industry, following the financial crisis and a number of high profile cases, including Payment Protection Insurance misselling and the alleged manipulation of LIBOR and foreign exchange rates. Read more.
23 April 2015 - Australia vs. Foreign Bribery – Teething Pains: In February 2015, Australia commenced its second foreign bribery prosecution in relation to the bribery of a foreign public official, almost four years after the commencement of Australia’s first foreign-bribery prosecution against Securency and Note Printing Australia Pty Ltd. The implicated individuals have extensive terrorist connections, which further calls into question issues such as dealing in the proceeds of crimes and money laundering, which are often intertwined with bribery and corruption charges. Notably, this prosecution coincides with the Australian Government’s introduction of several key changes to Australia’s foreign bribery laws in March 2015. This was followed closely by the OECD report on Australia’s compliance record in April 2015. Despite taking into account some of the proposed legislative amendments, the OECD report noted remaining concern over Australia’s lack of action regarding compliance enforcement. Read more.
22 April 2015 - Fourth Money Laundering Directive and Regulation Passes First Reading of the Council of the European Union: On 22 April, the Council for the European Union (“Council”) adopted its position in relation to the fourth anti-money laundering directive and Regulation on information accompanying transfer of funds. Read more.
20 April 2015 - Potential Rulings on the “Alter Ego” Theory for Service on Foreign Corporations: Two cases before the Seventh and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could clarify whether the “alter ego” theory allows the U.S. government to serve legal process upon foreign corporations by only serving a domestic U.S. subsidiary. Read more.
24 March 2015 - FCA Business Plan for 2015/16 Includes Focus on Financial Crime: On 24 March 2015, the FCA released its business plan for 2015/16. The plan focuses on its main roles of authorisation, supervision, and enforcement and highlights its increased focus on ensuring businesses anti-money laundering controls are sufficient. Read more.
5 March 2015 - Serious Fraud Office Confirms Investigation into Bank of England Liquidity Auctions: The Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) confirmed that, in December 2014, it began an investigation into Bank of England liquidity auctions. This comes as a result of a Bank of England commissioned independent inquiry which reported on possible manipulations of auctions held by the Bank in 2007 and 2008. Read more.
18 February 2015 - U.K. Home Affairs Committee – Evaluating the National Crime Agency: On 17 February, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee published its report on the architecture of policing in the United Kingdom (Home Affairs Committee – Evaluating the new architecture of policing: the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency, HC800, 17 February 2015. This report follows a period of five years of restructuring and reshaping policing at the national level in the United Kingdom, all of which was done to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Read more.
15 February 2015 - FCA and PRA Consultation Paper on Whistleblowing in the Financial Industry – The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) recommended that banks put in place mechanisms to allow their employees to raise concerns internally (i.e. whistleblowing). As a result the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) have initiated a consultation on a proposed a set of requirements to formalise firms’ whistleblowing procedures. Read more.

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