Bribery and Corruption

There are over 40 million people in modern slavery worldwide. Modern slavery exists in every industry, in every country in the world. The financial services industry has a major role to play in combating this violent and abusive business. And yet our polling found that over one third (36%) of financial industry employees thought that their organization had no influence at all in combating Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT). It is no longer acceptable to look the other way. Ignorance is not a line of defense. If companies look hard enough, they will find it in their supply chains, but will they be prepared to respond? Saying you are concerned about MSHT through your MS statement is one thing, but taking responsible action is altogether harder but much more important.

One of the UK’s top officials in monitoring economic crime has today warned about the “disturbing” prevalence of Russian money laundering in London, claiming up to half of all money laundered from the country is done through the UK.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a programme of work on analysing algorithms with the release of a study focused on the potential harms caused by algorithmic systems to consumers.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/cma-study-highlights-risks-competition-posed-algorithms

SPECIAL REPORT: CORPORATE FRAUD & CORRUPTION

Businesses that fail to publish annual 'modern slavery' statements are to face potential financial penalties in the UK, foreign secretary Dominic Raab has confirmed.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/modern-slavery-transparency-failings-to-lead-to-uk-fines

The Serious Fraud Office has announced that a former employee of a Petrofac subsidiary has admitted additional charges under the UK Bribery Act 2010.  These charges relate to three historic contract awards in the UAE in 2013 and 2014.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today closed its three year investigation into British American Tobacco (BAT).

An EU court has upheld a 2017 European Commission decision which found that the International Skating Union (ISU) infringed competition law rules by imposing restrictions on skaters from taking part in non-ISU events.

Two major UK groundworks products suppliers have been fined £15m for illegally colluding to reduce competition and keep prices up.

Firms involved in anti-competitive behaviour may find their agreements to be unenforceable and risk being fined up to 10% of group global turnover, as well as exposing themselves to possible damages actions.