Insights

We examine what might be the biggest change to corporate criminal law in a century as the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (referred to as "the Bill") approaches the end of its course through the UK Parliament.

Last year the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 59 innocent subpostmasters who had wrongfully been found to have stolen money from the Post Office. Hundreds more are waiting for their own convictions to be overturned. Many have been bankrupted, lost their homes and have been treated as pariahs in their local communities. Some have even spent time in prison.

Each evening between 1830 and 2030, I will offer free consultations in criminal matters by Skype or telephone for those who contact me through my website.

Last month, EY published its 15^th Global Fraud Survey, Integrity in the Spotlight – the future of compliance. The results are damning. Despite more active enforcement, amounting to over $11bn of penalties imposed by regulators and law enforcement agencies worldwide, there has been no improvement in the scale of bribery and corruption since 2012. In the UK, levels seem to be on the rise, even though the UK Bribery Act, which introduced much stronger anti-bribery laws and has been described as one of the toughest pieces of anti-corruption legislation in the world, came into force in 2011.

A recent report created by Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, revealed that in 2017 holiday fraud in the UK amounted to £6.7 million, with 4,700 holidaymakers affected. The average amount lost per person, at above £1,500, represents a 25% rise from the previous year. Further, Action Fraud’s report revealed that victims of holiday booking fraud claimed the impact of the crime had gone beyond just financial, with some saying it had also affected their health.