Blog
Rayner my parade! The importance of specialist advice.
Jemma Brimblecombe
21 July 2016
Home Affairs Committee report: can the Proceeds of Crime be made to pay
On 15 July the Home Affairs Committee published the report of its enquiry into the seizure of criminal proceeds. It highlights a number of on-going failings of the regime and calls for sweeping reforms, for example the establishment of specialist confiscation courts, the power to impose travel restrictions on those who fail to pay and the continued detention of prisoners until their orders are satisfied in full.
26 May 2016
How the Yates memo has brought the ‘long arm of the law’ stiflingly close
As the recent Anti-Corruption Summit in London drew to a close the outcome was clear – the focus is firmly on holding companies to account and UK corporates are well and truly in the firing line.
10 February 2016
The CMA warns of ‘substantial fines’ – big players, big fines - a sign of things to come in 2016?
The Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’) has warned that UK companies and in particular large pharmaceutical companies are to expect “substantial fines”. Alex Chisholm, Chief Executive of the CMA wants to see “a big step up in the scale and impact of [their] enforcement activity”. Whilst he acknowledges that this is not the goal by which the CMA’s success should be measured, it is, however one element which acts as a credible deterrent. He goes on to say that in high value markets involving big players, such players should be ready to face big fines.
10 February 2016
Scorecard for UK competition regime
In a report published on 5 February, the National Audit Office (NAO) congratulated the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for “significant progress” in improving how the UK’s competition regime works confirming that, it is now “more coherent than ever”. However, it called for further action to step up the flow of successful enforcement cases and the need for greater awareness amongst business of competition law. Flexibility of resourcing and greater co-operation to secure a coherent approach across the regime is called for.
9 February 2016
Anti-money laundering - speeding up the pace of change
The European Commission presented an Action Plan this week to strengthen the fight against terrorist financing. The plan underlines how the adoption of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Package represented a significant step in improving the effectiveness of the EU's efforts to combat the laundering of money from criminal activities and to counter the financing of terrorist activities. That said the Commission is now calling on national governments to take action earlier than planned to put national rules in place by end December 2016 rather than end of June 2017.
