Subject to Inquiry

Subject to Inquiry

THE LATEST ON GOVERNMENT INQUIRIES AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation Group

Tag Archives: “Serious Fraud Office”

Anti-Bribery and Corruption

The SFO’s “ongoing” investigation into Alstom – Further Charges

We originally wrote in 2014 about charges that had been brought in September of that year by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office against the French Multinational’s UK subsidiary, Alstom Network UK Ltd, and two former employees and British nationals for corruption offences (under pre-Bribery Act era legislation) relating to transport projects in India, Poland, and Tunisia.… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

The SFO’s ‘Seize and Sift’ Procedure

R (on the application of Colin McKenzie) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office saw an unsuccessful attempt to judicially review the SFO’s currently in-use procedure for dealing with material that it has seized, and which may contain content subject to legal professional privilege (“LPP”). This ‘procedure’, set out in the SFO’s Operational Handbook, provides… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

Civil fraud damages claims begin in the UK following a corruption prosecution by the SFO and the DOJ against Innospec and others

In a recent decision of Mr Justice Flaux in the case Jalal Bezee Mejel Al-Gaood & Partner v Innospec Limited and Others, the Claimants sued for damages which they claimed arose as a result of the Defendants having bribed the Iraqi Ministry of Oil (“MOO”) to purchase their chemical products, TEL.  The claim for damages… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

The Director of the SFO criticises corporations which commission internal investigations before self-reporting

The engagement of external lawyers by corporations is still the safest and best option as those external law firms not only have their own firm's professional brand reputation to protect in giving full honest and fair reports, but the lawyers who form those organisations all owe personal duties to the court not to mislead it. Their report would have been prepared in the knowledge that, if disclosed to the SFO as part of a self-reporting procedure, it could end up being scrutinised by the court.… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation

The Long Arm of British Anti-Corruption Laws and the impact on individual defendants

The inference to be made from this court order is that the crime of corruption really doesn't pay, especially for board level directors, and that individuals who get involved in (or permit existing arrangements to continue unabated) international corruption are at risk of being prosecuted in one or more jurisdictions around the world and are liable to lengthy terms of imprisonment as well as very substantial penalties and orders for disgorgement of payments… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation

Anticorruption compliance is more than adopting a policy

When the prosecutors come knocking on the door with a search warrant, one of the first things they will look for is evidence as to whether the company adhered to and fulfilled the six principles of adequate procedures. If one or more of those six steps is missing, the company may have no defence to a prosecution… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Election and Political Law

“Not the serious champagne office” – SFO Director indicates common sense approach to Bribery Act

In response to speculation as to whether corporate hospitality involving tickets to the recent London Olympic Games might result in prosecutions under the Bribery Act, Serious Fraud Office Director David Green QC has stated: "We are not interested in that sort of case. We are interested in hearing that a large company has mysteriously come second in bidding for a big contract. The sort of bribery we would be investigating would not be tickets to Wimbledon or bottles of champagne. We are not the 'serious champagne office'."… Continue Reading

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