Category: Legislation

Crime and Policing Act 2026: corporate criminal liability unbound

Legislation
The Crime and Policing Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, further expanding the circumstances when organisations may be criminally prosecuted for wrongdoing by senior staff. The Act now applies the less restrictive model of corporate criminal liability, first seen in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 in relation to certain economic crime, to all offences — a development that is likely to broaden legal, compliance and governance risk across all industry sectors. What the law said before Section 196 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (“ECCTA”) created an expanded route to prosecute organisations…

Will changes to the UK’s money laundering rules help or hinder crooks and kleptocrats?

Legislation, Money Laundering
The UK government has unveiled significant changes to the rules for how UK firms mitigate and manage money laundering risks. Some tweaks tightening up the rules are welcome but without robust supervision others could make the UK more vulnerable to dirty money. So what are the main changes and what is their likely impact? Undue diligence? UK anti-money laundering rules require many businesses – such as law firms, accountants, and banks – to do proper checks on the money they handle. These ‘due diligence’ checks require them to look into who they are dealing with and what’s behind their business…

Treatment of Politically Exposed Persons under the Money Laundering Regulations

Legislation, PEPs
My Noble Friend the Treasury Lords Minister (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) has today made the following Writen Ministerial Statement. Today the Government has laid The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1371) a Statutory Instrument to amend the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the Regulations) in relation to the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) who are entrusted with prominent public functions by the UK (known as ‘domestic PEPs’). The amendment makes clear that under the Regulations the starting point for banks and other regulated firms in their…

Sri Lanka Passes Anti-Corruption Bill as Part of IMF Bailout Plan

Corruption, Legislation
Sri Lanka’s Parliament has approved an anti-corruption bill, aimed at improving governance in the crisis-hit country and meeting requirements linked to a $2.9bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The legislation was passed on Wednesday without a vote in the 225-member house. “The bill is passed with amendments,” Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told lawmakers after more than two dozen pages of amendments were included in the draft legislation during the morning session. Sri Lanka’s economy nosedived into the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years after a severe foreign exchange crunch last year forced the…

Law Firms Set to be Captured by New £100m Economic Crime Levy

Legislation
The government is seeking views on legislation to raise money to fight economic crime, which could impose tax bills of up to £250,000 on very large companies, such as City law firms. HM Treasury has opened a ‘technical consultation’ on draft legislation for a levy that aims to raise £100m per year, ahead of its inclusion in the 2021-22 Finance Bill. The tax will be paid by all groups that are subject to UK money laundering regulations, including legal practices, banks and accountancy firms. AML-regulated entities with over £10.2m in UK revenue will be liable to pay the levy, which…

Buckland calls for tougher corporate crime laws

Legislation
The lord chancellor has called for stronger laws against companies that facilitate economic crime – but said that firms should not face an ‘undue burden of compliance’. Speaking at the International Symposium of Economic Crime, Robert Buckland said there are concerns that the current law on corporate criminal liability is not fit for purpose, especially when applied to large corporates. ‘Reform may indeed be needed to ensure that organisations of all sizes can be held to account and serious crimes can be punished appropriately,’ he said. ‘At the same time, it is of course important to ensure that any reform…

The Bribery Act – 10 years on

Bribery, Legislation
When the Bribery Act 2010 was introduced it was feted and condemned in equal measure. While supporters claimed it would be the international gold standard for bribery legislation, critics called it draconian. A decade later it seems that, at least in terms of prosecutions, the act falls far short of Draco’s standards. The Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office have prosecuted a handful of individuals, and use of the corporate offence under section 7 (failure to prevent bribery) has almost exclusively been confined to deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), rather than convictions. However, before declaring the act a failure, one…