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United Kingdom: Economic Crime Update: Introduction to the Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence and Corporate Criminal Liability Reforms

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The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Act is a landmark development in the UK Government’s long-standing efforts to enhance the UK’s economic crime enforcement framework, and the Act introduces a number of important measures designed to improve corporate transparency and tackle economic crime in the UK
and abroad.

In our latest Economic Crime Update webinar, we focus on:

  • an overview of the Act;
  • the introduction to the “failure to prevent fraud offence”, including (i) key elements of the offence, (ii) jurisdictional scope, (iii) enforcement implications, and (iv) the defence of reasonable fraud prevention procedures;
  • the reforms to the law on attribution of corporate criminal liability for economic crimes, under the “identification doctrine”;
  • implications for financial services firms; and
  • key preparation steps for companies.

Click HERE to watch this on-demand webinar now.

We’ve also prepared a Q&A summary document to answer your key questions on the Economic Crime And Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

If you have any follow up questions in respect of the presentation, please click here to reach out to our team.

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Author

Henry is a partner in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London, and a member of the Compliance and Investigations group. Henry is an English qualified solicitor. Henry also worked in the San Francisco office for an extended period and has been seconded to the litigation and regulatory investigations team of a well known bank. During his secondment, Henry played a leading role in the internal legal team on a number of high profile investigations and disputes. Henry has also been seconded to the UK Serious Fraud Office, during which he was the Case Lawyer on a high profile and significant multi million pound investigation.

Author

Yindi is a partner in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London, and a member of the Compliance and Investigations group. Yindi’s practice includes a broad spectrum of complex and high-value international and domestic commercial litigation for multinational clients, with specialist expertise in anti-bribery and corruption investigations, compliance and trust disputes.

Author

Joanna Ludlam is co-chair of Baker McKenzie's Global Compliance & Investigations practice. She has held this position since 2017, having previously led this group in the EMEA region. She is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team in the London office, where she leads the Regulatory, Public & Media law team. Joanna has extensive experience in leading complex investigations and pioneering compliance initiatives. She advises clients, including the C-suite, on corporate criminal liability, regulatory compliance, and crisis and reputation management. She also prepares senior executives for appearances at public inquiries and Parliamentary Select Committee hearings. Her expertise in administrative and public law and public procurement law complements her investigations practice. Joanna co-authored the firm's Connected Compliance thought leadership, which includes the world's first global compliance integration benchmarking tool. Joanna was the winner of the “Compliance Innovator of the Year for Connected Compliance” at the Women in Compliance Awards and the “Admin & Public UK Lawyer of the year” by ACQ5 in 2019. She was one of GIR's "Top 100 Women in Compliance” in 2018 and “Role Model in the HERoes Women Role Model Lists” in 2019. In 2016, Joanna made The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” and is consistently recognized by Chambers and Legal 500. Joanna designed the Firm’s innovative Investigations Academy, a comprehensive, state-of-the-art training programme for investigations practitioners within the Firm’s team and clients. She is also a member of the leadership team for BakerWomen, a key Baker McKenzie D&I focus group.

Author

Jonathan chairs the firm's Financial Institutions Global Industry Group and is a partner in the London Dispute Resolution practice. Jonathan has deep experience in advising boards, executive teams and individuals dealing with issues of market integrity, ethics, brand and reputation impact, conduct risk, whistleblowing, market misconduct, systems and controls failings and remediation, public statements and investor relations, financial crime, fraud, regulatory investigation and enforcement, public policy, public law and civil and criminal litigation. Jonathan's substantial in-house experience delivers a highly strategic and commercial focus aimed at re-establishing confidence in the brand and individuals. Jonathan joined Baker McKenzie from Barclays Bank PLC. Spanning a decade of unique pressure in the financial sector amidst the global financial crisis, he led the global litigation, investigations and enforcement function and established the bank's financial crime legal team. Jonathan was responsible for a series of high-profile regulatory and criminal investigations in EMEA, the US and Asia Pacific regions and led a significant portfolio of wholesale and retail litigation. Supporting the bank's risk and compliance functions, he implemented and improved systems and controls in respect of money laundering, bribery and corruption, fraud and international sanctions. Jonathan worked with UK and US law enforcement and government intelligence agencies on counter-terrorism, organised crime and other domestic and international security initiatives. Jonathan is the contributing author to a number of leading legal and sector publications, including: Banks and Financial Crime: International Law of Tainted Money (Oxford University Press 2008, 2016); Global Investigations Review - The Evolution of Risk Management in Global Investigations (GIR 2016, 2017, 2018); and Risk.net's annual Top 10 Operational Risks (2018-2022).

Author

Charles is a partner in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London. Charles has substantial experience of managing a broad range of high-value, multijurisdictional commercial disputes and investigations, particularly those involving fraud and white-collar crime, contentious trusts and complex banking and finance disputes. He leads the Business Crime Unit, and he is particularly well known for his experience of advising on criminal law issues, and the interaction between criminal and civil law processes. Chambers cite clients in describing Charles as "extremely knowledgeable, user-friendly and always willing to go the extra mile," while Legal 500 similarly remark that he is "a great strategic thinker and a thorough pleasure to work with." Charles is also listed as a Rising Star in Litigation by Legal Week and is also listed in Global Investigations Review as a leading expert in conducting investigations.

Author

Tristan is a Partner at Baker McKenzie, advising clients on sanctions and export controls, anti-bribery and corruption and other corporate compliance risks. He provides compliance advice to clients across these risk areas, including in the context of complex cross-border transactions, as well as supporting clients in the management of related internal and external investigations. Tristan has advised clients in respect of investigations by the Serious Fraud Office, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), the National Crime Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, and the Competition and Markets Authority, as well as in related investigations by overseas agencies, including the US Department of Justice and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He also counsels clients in the design and implementation of their corporate compliance programmes.
Tristan is the UK head of Baker McKenzie’s market leading international trade practice, which is ranked as Tier 1 by Legal 500 and Band 1 by Chambers UK. He is personally ranked as a Leading Individual for ‘Trade, WTO, Anti-dumping and Customs’ by Legal 500 and for ‘Sanctions’ by Chambers UK. He is the EMEA Chair of the firm's Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice.
Tristan also advises clients – including multinationals, private equity, SOEs and SWFs – on the impact of national security policy and regulation on their business and transactional strategy, and has supported clients on numerous filings under the UK National Security and Investment Act, as well as coordinating strategy and national security filings before multiple other European and non-European agencies.

Author

Sunny Mann is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads the UK Compliance and Investigations Practice, as well as the UK International Commercial and Trade Practice. Both these practices are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK. He has also worked in our Firm's Washington DC, New York and Sydney offices. Sunny also advises many clients on risk matters in India. He advises clients (including numerous FTSE 100 and Fortune 100 businesses) on compliance and investigations with respect to export controls, trade sanctions and anti-bribery rules. The Legal 500 ranked Sunny as a “Leading Practitioner", and as "excellent", with a ‘calm’ and "very practical" approach. The India Business Law Journal also noted that Sunny is "excellent and has deep experience in India". He is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the leading institute for post-graduate European studies, where he teaches a course on Corporate Compliance.

Author

Jennifer Revis is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads our EMEA Customs Team.
Jennifer focuses her practice on the public regulation of international trade, particularly in a wide range of customs compliance issues. She regularly advises clients on import matters, including customs valuation, rules of origin, and classification. She has worked with clients designing and implementing their compliance programs, policies, procedures and risk assessments, and assisting them in customs audits. She has significant experience in managing global customs projects and disputes, particularly in the area of customs valuation (transfer pricing; assists; royalties). Jennifer also advises on FTAs and trade remedies matters.
Jennifer has been consistently recognised as a "Leading Individual" for Customs & Excise and “Next Generation Partner” for Trade, WTO Anti-Dumping And Customs. Clients describe her as "an outstanding customs lawyer and litigator with fantastic experience. She is also easy to work with and leads her team with aplomb", "without a doubt, one of the best customs lawyers in the business (…) with an exceptionally deep knowledge of customs valuation concepts, as well as considerable experience applying those concepts in a variety of jurisdictions."
Jennifer has been on secondment to the UK customs authorities (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) in their tax and excise litigation department and to the Firm's European Law Centre in Brussels.

Author

Philip Annett is a partner based in Baker McKenzie’s London office focussing on complex investigations, litigation and compliance matters. He has an in-depth knowledge of working with UK and international regulators and enforcement agencies, having previously been a senior lawyer in the Enforcement Division at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where he led some of the regulator's highest-profile enforcement cases. He also previously worked in the Bribery and Corruption Division at the Serious Fraud Office.

Author

Mark heads the Financial Services & Regulatory (FSR) practice group in London and co-leads the FinTech group. He also acts as Chair of the FSR practice for the EMEA region and sits on the Global FSR Steering Committee. Mark is ranked as a Leading Individual in Legal 500 2022 for Financial Services (Non-Contentious Regulatory) and is individually ranked in Chambers 2022 for FinTech. He is described in these publications as being "very knowledgeable" and "very approachable" with "a wonderful range of FinTech experience" and as someone who is "clear, commercial and pragmatic and understands all the issues in detail." He has authored a number of articles and contributions for leading journals and other publications, most notably the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, the International Guide to Money Laundering Law and Practice, and A Practitioner's Guide to the Law and Regulation of Financial Crime.

Author

Jessica Kathryn Mutton's practice focuses on international trade, encompassing: sanctions and export controls; customs; anti-bribery and corruption; and tax evasion. She joined Baker McKenzie from another global law firm in 2015. She studied and worked in both London and Paris, and has knowledge of both the English common law and French civil law systems. Jessica is the lead associate covering Brexit-related developments, analysing how they will affect the UK's trading position generally and clients' businesses specifically. She has helped clients to conduct assessments of how Brexit will impact their businesses and assisted in developing tailored Brexit Jessica conducts training and presents at various seminars, webinars, and conferences on the complexities of Brexit, as well as on international trade matters more generally. She is recommended by Legal 500 for her Customs and Brexit work.

Author

Julian Godfray is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Competition, Trade and Foreign Investment Department in London. Julian works in particular in the Firm's market-leading International Trade and Compliance & Investigations practices. Julian joined the Firm as a trainee in September 2014, and qualified in September 2016. Julian has been seconded to two FTSE 100 clients during his time at the Firm, including in the ethics and compliance team of one client. Julian has also completed secondments to the Firm's European and Competition Law Practice in Brussels in 2016, and more recently to the Firm's Madrid office in 2020, working as part of the Firm's trade compliance practice in Spain.

Author

Mark is a Senior Associate in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London. Mark is also a member of the Firm's Compliance & Investigations Practice Group.

Author

Eleanor is a senior associate in the Dispute Resolution team based in London and a member of the Global Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice group. Eleanor's practice includes a broad spectrum of disputes and investigations, with a particular focus on white collar-crime, including anti-bribery and corruption, fraud and anti-money laundering. Eleanor’s work involves conducting internal investigations on behalf of clients, as well as external investigations engaging with regulators and enforcement agencies, advising on compliance matters, and criminal defence.

Author

Clementine Metcalfe is an Associate in Baker McKenzie, London office.

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