Over the past year, the appetite to make changes to the Scottish civil justice system has increased, particularly in the case of mediation. Although at an early stage, there are various legislative reforms being proposed that give mediation a more prominent position in all civil litigation matters. But what exactly are these proposed changes, and …
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Recent case law has shown that bad faith is a continually evolving concept whose assessment can lead either to the cancellation or to the transfer of trade mark applications registered in bad faith. In 2019, French courts notably cancelled important French trade marks such as ‘Vente-privee‘ and ‘Laguiole‘ on the basis of their applicant’s bad …
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The spread of criminal and regulatory laws into the corporate world has been underscored by a string of cases in the US and, more recently, the UK sparked by M&A activity. As a result, our transatlantic white collar crime defence and investigations group has seen an uptick in advising buyers and sellers on corporate transactions …
Continue reading “2020 vision: minimising financial crime risk in US/UK M&A”
The term ‘digital transformation’ has become a buzzword in the corporate world, although the meaning is open to interpretation. For some organisations, digital transformation simply means incorporating the latest app into existing infrastructure. Yet, another interpretation involves the implementation of technology, to change the way organisations conduct business. That’s where digital maturity comes into play …
Money laundering represents one of the key challenges in the fight against serious crime, especially considering its stealth nature as well as its cross-border dimension. There is an underlying link between money laundering and other crimes, such as corruption offences, human trafficking, drug trafficking or the financing of terrorism. One of the most significant and …
Continue reading “The ultimate beneficial owner – the Achilles heel of money laundering?”
Quotes: ‘Money laundering is for drug dealers and terrorists. We do not have any exposure’; ‘We have never checked against AML lists. Competitors don’t do it. Why would we?’; ‘Lawyers just don’t understand business. That’s just scare tactics’; ‘Yeah, we do have compliance. They don’t generate any revenue’; ‘We here in compliance can preach. But …
Continue reading “Straight talk: criminal defence and compliance in AML cases”
‘Breach of trust’, an equivalent to ‘Untreue’, ‘abus de confiance‘ or ‘abuse of position’, is a typical white-collar crime in Greece and the main source of criminal liability risk for the boards of directors (BoDs), CEOs and other officers holding a position of trust within a corporation. Hence, the recent amendments to the actus reus …
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Throughout 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued to actively investigate and prosecute individuals and corporations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for suspected involvement with political corruption and/or bribery around the world. The US implemented further aggressive measures to fight corruption, including economic sanctions administered …
Continue reading “US anti-corruption developments – 2019 in review”
In France, the fight against the great scourges that are corruption, misappropriation of public funds and more generally white-collar crime has led to the emergence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), constituted in the form of associations, who play the role of public accusers, a role traditionally held by the state prosecutor but without being subject to …
Continue reading “The justified limitation of associations’ powers in the fight against corruption”
Following up on our previous article regarding internal investigations in Italy, issues that arise when the internal investigation concerns a white-collar crime are also worth addressing. When there is knowledge (or suspicion) that a crime has been committed within a company and a criminal proceeding is pending (or may be brought), internal investigations become particularly …
Continue reading “Options for internal investigations under Italian law and data protection issues”
White-collar crimes have not only increased in scale but have also become increasingly sophisticated. Individuals, companies, and financial institutions have been outflanked by criminal attacks. Furthermore, with advancing technology and complex transactional structures, the proceeds of white-collar crime have become easier to dissipate and move. Accordingly, alongside combating the criminals, finding new and effective ways …
Continue reading “Asset recovery in Turkey: are criminal proceedings the only way?”
As the level of sophistication of economic crime has evolved and increased, there has been a growing need to streamline the mechanisms for confiscating its benefits, thus eliminating its economic incentive and inculcating the idea that ‘crime does not pay’. The law went beyond a strict definition of white-collar crime and entered what is seen …
Continue reading “New Portuguese powers to seize criminal spoils – a dangerous game”