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International Edition

US firm seals hire of Serious Fraud Office GC for London office

McGuireWoods has boosted its white collar crime practice in London with the hire of Serious Fraud Office (SFO) general counsel Vivian Robinson QC. Robinson will join the US firm's London office later this summer as a partner in the government, regulatory and criminal investigations practice, after serving a three-month notice period at the SFO.
2 minute read

International Edition

War on Wimbledon – the much-derided Bribery Act is a resounding success

You know you're on dodgy territory when journalists and lobbying groups start to claim a piece of legislation is badly drafted. Unless you're a trained lawyer - and one with a specialism in the area at that - it's pretty difficult to tell if statute is poorly written. Of course, as can been seen from this week's analysis, this didn't stop a storm of criticism hitting the Bribery Act, which must now surely rank as the most politically-charged piece of legislation to impact on corporates since the Human Rights Act of 1998. In part, the nature of these attacks was due to the content of the Act. Supporting bribery is a hard public position to adopt - which forced opponents of the Act to get into technical arguments regarding supposed deficiencies in drafting.
3 minute read

International Edition

Kickbacks – does the Bribery Act deserve to be mired in controversy?

"Talk of golf days being banned and arrests at Wimbledon – that was all hype," says Barry Vitou, Pinsent Masons partner and co-author of thebriberyact.com, discussing the much-touted anti-corruption legislation that will finally come into effect later this summer. And the implementation of the Bribery Act has certainly been noticed; arguably not since the Human Rights Act 1998 has a piece of primary legislation with wide implications for companies attracted such sustained political controversy. In the wake of a fierce lobbying campaign from business groups claiming, in one case, that the Act would be like equivalent US legislation "on acid" – leading to extreme claims that even basic corporate hospitality would be banned under the legislation – the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced in January that the Act's implementation would be delayed from its target of April 2011.
26 minute read

International Edition

US associate faces charges for using law firm data for insider trading

A former M&A lawyer has been charged by US prosecutors for an alleged insider trading scheme which involved obtaining information from three leading corporate law firms, writes The Am Law Daily. Matthew Kluger, a former associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, has been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with an alleged scheme to trade on inside information. The scheme is alleged to have netted Kluger and a fellow defendant $32m (£19.7m) over more than a decade.
4 minute read

International Edition

Senior DLA partner duo quit firm to join Dechert's London arm

DLA Piper is set to see its global co-head of litigation and regulation Neil Gerrard and its EMEA head of corporate crime and investigations Jonathan Pickworth leave the firm. Gerrard and Pickworth both handed in their notice yesterday (31 March) to join Dechert's City arm, with the firm also understood to be in talks with additional DLA partners.
2 minute read

International Edition

Govt announces July implementation date for new UK anti-bribery laws

Businesses have just three months to ensure they comply with the Bribery Act, after Justice Secretary Ken Clarke today (30 March) announced that the UK's updated anti-corruption laws will come into force on 1 July. The new guidelines issued earlier today confirm that a business can be held liable if a senior person within the organisation commits a bribery offence. Organisations may also be liable for failing to prevent bribery conducted on their behalf, but only if the person committing the crime performs services connected with the business - this means companies are unlikely to face action because of the actions of suppliers.
7 minute read

International Edition

Louise Delahunty: Caught in the laundering cross fire

Banks, lawyers and accountants are experiencing a feeling of deja vu. Another raft of European legislation descends, new domestic implementing law is published and the UK is once again at the forefront of increased anti-money laundering regulation.
4 minute read

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