DOWNLOAD ALERT On 3 October 2019, the United Kingdom and the United States signed a first-of-its-kind Bilateral Data Access Agreement (the “Agreement”), which is expected to reduce the time it takes UK and US law enforcement agencies to access electronic evidence held by technology companies located in each other’s territory.…
New Sentencing Guideline Following a consultation in 2018, the Sentencing Council has published a new sentencing guideline to come into effect on 1 October 2019 that will apply to sentences decided on or after that date. This new “General guideline” will apply to the sentencing of organisations and adult individuals.…
The UK Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) has released its long awaited Corporate Co-operation Guidance. It is a must read for any in-house counsel who conducts internal investigations with a UK nexus or corporates that may wish to seek leniency from the SFO. A copy of the guidance can be found…
The Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 (“Act”) received Royal Assent on 12 February 2019. The Act allows UK law enforcement agencies including the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”), HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority to apply for a court order with extra-territorial effect (an Overseas Production Order or “OPO”) to…
The Court of Appeal has handed down its much-anticipated judgment in the case of The Director of the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006, overturning the most controversial aspect of the first instance decision.
Baker McKenzie Toronto hosted an event to discuss legal and policy issues relating to the introduction of Deferred Prosecution Agreements in Canada. Here are the key takeaways.
Lisa Osofsky will be the new Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), taking over from David Green CB QC. Mark Thompson (the SFO’s current Chief Operating Officer) is filling the role on an interim basis before Ms Osofsky takes up the position full time on 3 September 2018.
A UK refurbishment contractor has been found guilty under Section 7 of the UK Bribery Act 2010 for failure to prevent bribery. The case represents the first time that a jury has considered an “adequate procedures” defence under the UKBA.
The Canadian government has announced the results of its public consultation on corporate criminal wrongdoing and enforcement and a majority of participants in the consultation process favoured the implementation of a deferred prosecution agreements.
The UK Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that the two limb Ghosh test for assessing dishonesty in criminal proceedings should be replaced by a purely objective test. This is a very significant development in criminal law.