Tag Archives: Andrew Lee

European Union Finally Adopts Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

by Samantha Rowe, Patricia Volhard, Jin-Hyuk Jang, John Young, Ulysses Smith, Jesse Hope, Harry Just, and Andrew Lee

Photos of the authors

Top left to right: Samantha Rowe, Patricia Volhard, Jin-Hyuk Jang and John Young. Bottom left to right: Ulysses Smith, Jesse Hope, Harry Just and Andrew Lee. (Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

On 24 May 2024, the European Council (the “Council”) formally adopted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (the “CSDDD” or the “Directive”). The regime introduces human rights, environmental and governance due diligence obligations for in scope companies’ and their subsidiaries’ operations, and in their “chain of activities”, which are companies’ supply and distribution chains.

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A Game-Changer for UK Corporate Crime Enforcement? Major Expansion of Corporate Criminal Liability Proposed

by Karolos Seeger, Konstantin Bureiko, Aisling Cowell, and Andrew Lee

Photos of the authors

From left to right: Karolos Seeger, Konstantin Bureiko, Aisling Cowell, and Andrew Lee (Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

Recently, the UK government announced a groundbreaking proposal to reform the identification doctrine—the principle used to hold a company liable for criminal offences committed by those who represent its “directing mind and will”.[1]

For a wide range of offences, including bribery, money laundering, sanctions, fraud and false accounting offences, the actions of a “senior manager… acting within the actual or apparent scope of their authority” will be attributable to his or her employer. The draft wording was added to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which, as part of the government’s focus on overhauling UK economic crime legislation, already includes a new failure to prevent fraud corporate offence.[2]

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UK Introduces New ‘Failure to Prevent Fraud’ Corporate Offence

by Karolos Seeger, Aisling Cowell, and Andrew Lee

Photos of the authors

From left to right: Karolos Seeger, Aisling Cowell, and Andrew Lee (Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

Following confirmation by the UK Government earlier this year that it intended to create a new ‘failure to prevent’ corporate criminal offence, it has now published the much-anticipated draft wording of a failure to prevent fraud offence. This will form part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the “ECCT Bill”), which is currently being debated by the House of Lords. Once enacted, the ECCT Bill will be the most important law tackling economic crime since the Bribery Act 2010.[1] It is also the culmination of a long debate about the reform of corporate criminal liability, including a review by the Law Commission completed last year.[2]

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UK Law Commission Recommends Reforms to Money Laundering Suspicious Activity Reports

by Karolos Seeger, Aisling Cowell, Andrew Lee, and Natasha McCarthy

The Law Commission has published an extensive report examining the UK’s current Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) regime for notifying suspected money laundering to the National Crime Agency (“NCA”) and outlining 19 recommendations for reform.[1] These include both legislative and non-legislative mechanisms designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the consent regime. This report follows a July 2018 consultation paper, which was discussed in a previous client update.[2] Interestingly, the Law Commission reviewed a sample of hundreds of SARs to help it analyse the potential impact of the various proposals and lend support to its final recommendations.

In short, the existing SAR regime will be largely retained, with the recommendations having limited practical effect, especially for organisations outside the regulated sector. We summarise below the key recommendations and consider their likely impact. Continue reading →

UK Law Commission Proposes Reforms to Suspicious Activity Reports for Money Laundering

by Karolos Seeger, Andrew Lee, and Natasha McCarthy

The Law Commission has published an extensive consultation paper examining the UK’s current Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) regime for reporting suspected money laundering to the National Crime Agency (“NCA”) and outlining provisional reform proposals.[1] The consultation runs until 5 October 2018, after which the Law Commission will present its final recommendations to the Government. This is the first step in a process that could result in significant changes to Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”), affecting all organisations that deal with money laundering issues.

We summarise below the key views expressed and changes proposed in the consultation paper, and analyse the likely practical effect if the reforms are implemented. Continue reading →

UK Financial Conduct Authority Issues Near-Final Rules on Extension of Senior Managers and Certification Regime and Introduces New Financial Services Directory

by Karolos Seeger, Simon Witney, and Andrew Lee

Following the consultation papers published in July and December 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) on 4 July 2018 provided responses to the industry feedback it received and issued near-final rules on extending the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SMCR”) to almost all FCA-regulated firms.[1] Notably, the FCA has confirmed that the new rules will apply from 9 December 2019. We summarise below the limited changes from the FCA’s initial SMCR proposals, the main features of which have been covered in our previous client updates.[2]

In addition, the FCA has published a consultation paper regarding the introduction of a new directory of financial services workers (the “Directory”).[3] This will be available from 10 December 2019 for banks, building societies, credit unions and insurers, and from 9 December 2020 for all other firms. The key aspects of the Directory and firms’ significant related notification obligations are outlined below. Continue reading →

English High Court Considers Status of Internal Investigation Interview Notes

by Karolos Seeger, Andrew Lee, and Robin Lööf

In R (AL) v Serious Fraud Office,[1] the English High Court considered the SFO’s obligations to individuals prosecuted following the deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) in July 2016 with a company anonymised as “XYZ Ltd”. The Court’s decision is likely to force the SFO to adopt a much more aggressive approach in relation to company counsel’s notes of interviews conducted during a company’s internal investigation. In particular, when those interview notes are potentially relevant to the defences of individuals being prosecuted, this judgment is likely to lead to the SFO putting further pressure on companies to produce the notes, through court proceedings if necessary. We analyse these and other issues covered by the judgment below. Continue reading →

UK Financial Conduct Authority Publishes Details on Extension of Senior Managers and Certification Regime

by Karolos Seeger, Patricia Volhard, Simon Witney, and Andrew Lee

On 13 December 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) issued three new consultation papers[1] providing further details on its extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SMCR”) to almost all firms regulated by the FCA. Some of the FCA’s key proposals are summarised below. We have previously published a client update outlining the main features of the extended SMCR.[2] Continue reading →

UK Financial Conduct Authority Outlines Extension of Senior Managers and Certification Regime to All Regulated Firms

by Karolos Seeger, Andrew Lee, and Simon Witney

On 26 July 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) issued its first consultation paper on extending the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SMCR”) to almost all of the approximately 50,000 firms regulated by the FCA.[1] The SMCR represents an important pillar of the FCA’s continuing efforts to promote individual responsibility and improve senior management accountability across the entire UK financial services industry. It will replace the current Approved Persons Regime.

The FCA has requested responses to the consultation paper by 3 November 2017, and there will be further consultation papers on particular aspects of the SMCR. It is anticipated that final rules will be published in the summer of 2018, and firms should expect to have to implement these by the end of next year. The SMCR has three main components: the Senior Managers Regime, the Certification Regime and the Conduct Rules. The key features of each are summarized below. Continue reading →

UK Implements New Anti-Money Laundering Rules

by Karolos Seeger, Alex Parker, Ceri Chave, and Andrew Lee

On 26 June 2017, the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017[1] came into force. These new regulations (the “2017 Regulations”):

  • require a written assessment of money laundering risk and prescribe some features of effective internal controls;
  • detail when different categories of customer due diligence must be conducted and what steps must be taken; and
  • specify beneficial ownership information that trusts must provide for inclusion on a central register.

The 2017 Regulations are intended to ensure that the UK’s anti-money laundering regime is in line with the Financial Action Task Force’s standards and to implement into UK law the European Union’s Fourth Money Laundering Directive (“MLD 4”).[2] The key features of the 2017 Regulations and the principal differences between them and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007[3] (the “2007 Regulations”) are summarised below. Continue reading →