Business Crime Quarterly Autumn 2018

Regulation and enforcement are the overriding themes of this edition of Business Crime Quarterly. From EU-wide proposals to tackle money laundering, to new legislation in France to strengthen the fight against fraud, to the widening of the criminal net in Russia, authorities are ramping up their anti-corruption initiatives. 1800 delegates from more than 140 countries attended the recent International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen and vowed to act together to end impunity for the corrupt.

It is surprising, therefore, to read in TI’s latest report that, in the last three years, only 11 of the world’s major exporting countries have undertaken at least moderate law enforcement against companies and businesses engaging in bribery and corruption. These include the UK and we report on a plethora of current prosecutions for fraud and corruption currently being progressed there, along with recent enforcement action taken against a number of major European banks. Bucking the trend is the US Second Circuit’s decision to limit the ability of the DoJ to charge foreign companies and individuals for FCPA contraventions, which will be of considerable interest to U.S. and foreign companies and financial institutions alike.

We look at the likely direction for the UK’s Serious Fraud Office under its new stewardship and note the changes that have already taken place with Lisa Osofsky at the helm. Meanwhile, the U.S. DOJ has been clarifying its own enforcement policies and emphasising the importance of self-reporting wrongdoing, cooperation and remediation. It has also introduced a new process for the appointment of monitors to ensure corporate compliance.

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