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Our new Risk & Compliance forecast (as at 14 December 2021) is now live. This month, we report on (1) changes to the UK Sanctions List; (2) updated requirements for the Cyber Essentials scheme; (3) changes to the Surveillance camera code of practice and (4) new draft guidelines from the EDPB on the territorial scope of the EU GDPR and international transfers. You can rest assured we’re tracking forthcoming regulatory changes so you can plan ahead.
See Practice Note: Risk & Compliance forecast as at 14 December 2021.
Law360, London: A London judge fined NatWest £264m (US$350m) on 13 December 2021 after the bank became the first lender to plead guilty to criminal charges for violating the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (MLR 2007), in connection with a gold dealership. In addition to the fine, NatWest was sentenced to a confiscation order of £460k, payment of the FCA’s costs amounting to over £4m. The penalty figure included a 15% uplift to reflect additional punishment and deterrence, and a 1/3 reduction to reflect NatWest’s early guilty pleas.
See News Analysis: .
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has commented on the sentencing and published the Agreed Statement of Facts between the FCA and NatWest on which NatWest’s guilty pleas were offered, in addition to the sentencing remarks of Mrs Justice Cockerill, which include an analysis of the penalty imposed.
See: .
The FCA has also published a letter, dated 13 December 2021, to the Treasury Select Committee in connection with the prosecution. The letter sets out, among other things, the FCA’s rationale for pursuing a criminal prosecution in this case, rather than a civil or regulatory outcome.
Transparency International (TI) has published a report entitled ‘Together in electric schemes—Analysing money laundering risk in e-payments’. The report explores the high money laundering risks associated with electronic money institutions (EMIs) which operate in the UK and calls for more proactive supervision of their activities by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The report calls on the FCA to conduct a new thematic risk review of the sector and extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to the EMI industry. The report warns ignoring the money laundering risks could lead to abuse of EMIs ‘on an industrial scale’.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched a public consultation on its draft guidelines on the use of remote customer onboarding solutions. The consultation closes on 10 March 2022.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has announced the UK Sanctions Lists will change format as of Febuary 2022, publishing guidance to help understand and prepare for this change.
Law360, London: Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) faces mounting pressure after judges overturned an oil executive's bribery conviction, finding the anti-graft agency’s misconduct prevented a fair trial in a damning ruling legal experts say rekindles doubts over the watchdog's future.
See News Analysis: SFO's credibility hits new low as oil executive's conviction quashed.
Corporate Crime analysis: The conviction of Mr Akle has been overturned by the Court of Appeal following a finding that he did not have a fair trial, and the SFO has been denied a retrial. As a result of the ruling, the Attorney General has announced that an independent review will be conducted into the SFO’s handling of the case and there are claims in some quarters that the Director’s position has become untenable. It is important to note, however, that despite the criticism of the Director, the Court of Appeal did not find that the high hurdle for an abuse of process was met. The appeal was allowed primarily on the basis of failures in disclosure, meaning that legal arguments to exclude an alleged co-conspirator’s guilty plea were hampered such that the conviction of Mr Akle was unsafe. Written by Quinton Newcomb, partner and head of Commercial Crime, and William Glover, senior associate (barrister) (starting 5 January 2022) at Fieldfisher LLP.
See News Analysis: Unaoil—a difficult lesson on disclosure for the SFO (R v Akle and another).
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has reported on the conclusion of the fifth Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, which was co-organised by INTERPOL, Europol and the Basel Institute on Governance. During the two-day conference, more than 3,000 attendees from law enforcement, public and private sectors, policy institutions and academia took part to discuss the evolving fields of decentralised finance, non-fungible tokens and regulatory developments affecting anti-money laundering compliance and crypto-enabled fraud. According to INTERPOL, the discussion panels highlighted the importance of a clear, harmonized regulatory global framework to prevent money laundering and closed with a set of recommendations to encourage best practices for improved illegal assets investigations.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a consultation on the draft right of access for competent authorities guidance relating to the law enforcement processing regime under of the Data Protection Act 2018 (). The draft guidance aims to explain in greater detail the rights that individuals have to access their personal data and the obligations on competent authorities. The draft guidance also explores situations involving joint controllers, how to deal with requests involving the personal data of others and the restrictions that are most likely to apply in practice when handling a request. The consultation closes on 11 March 2022.
Lloyd’s of London has published guidance for handling a ransomware claim incident. The guidance has been published in response to the increasing frequency of ransomware attacks. The guidance is general in nature and does not deal with ascertaining coverage but provides detailed steps for insurers to follow when handling a ransomware incident, including what insurers should require an insured to do upon discovery of a ransomware incident, what insurers should require an insured to do before the insured engage in negotiations and the due diligence process expected of an insured who anticipates making a ransom payment. The guidance also includes background information around ransomware, relevant considerations to avoid financial crime and sanctions risks, duties for the claims agreement parties to follow, and the arrangements to include where managing agents delegate claims handling authority to a third-party administrator.
Lexis®PSL Risk & Compliance has a dedicated area on the Key Resources section of the home page that tracks interesting and important cases, legislation, consultations and other key developments in the world of Risk & Compliance. For more information, see: .
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