News & Events
News & Events
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 came into force on 11 February 2021 and is set to make fundamental changes to the UK pensions landscape. Andrew Spink QC and Oliver Powell signpost the key changes that have been introduced by the Act, focusing on the new powers that will be available to The Pensions Regulator and the three new criminal offences created by the Act. The Pension Schemes Act 2021 addresses a number of critical areas concerning pensions, and importantly brings about a number of significant changes. Broadly distilled, the Act: establishes a new framework for the formation and administration of collective money purchase pension schemes; creates three new criminal offences; introduces a new power to impose civil penalties of up to £1m; expands…
Legal Blogs 3 Mar, 2021
Fiona Horlick QC and Oliver Powell co-authored the eleventh chapter of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption. The following is a summary of the chapter, giving an overview of UWOs and AFOs. It is part of a serialisation of the chapters that members of Outer Temple contributed to the publication. The introduction of Unexplained Wealth Orders (‘UWOs’) was first proposed by Transparency International UK in June 2015, as a solution to the “critical gaps in the UK legal framework which are being exploited by corrupt individuals and companies”. Chapter 11 of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption demystifies the statutory framework which gives law enforcement agencies new capabilities and powers to recover the proceeds of crime, and to tackle money…
News 28 Oct, 2020
Oliver Powell authored the second chapter of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption. The following is a summary of his chapter, giving an overview of UK legislation prior to the Bribery Act 2010. It is part of a serialisation of the chapters that members of Outer Temple contributed to the publication. As a result of piecemeal development over more than 100 years, the legislative framework which preceded the Bribery Act 2010 (‘BA 2010’) was complicated and confusing. The second chapter of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption not only provides clarity on the pre-existing law but it also sets out how the Courts have dealt with pre-BA 2010 offences, which is highly significant given that the new offences…
External Publications 13 Oct, 2020
We are delighted to announce that the Third edition of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption has been published by LexisNexis Butterworths. The practitioner’s book was edited by Fiona Horlick QC and Richard Lissack QC, and was contributed to by a number of Outer Temple members. In 2010, the UK’s law on bribery changed from a collection of ancient statutes, distorted in some cases by contradictory authority, to a single statute often regarded as one of the most rigorous, and wide-ranging in application, in the world. Since coming into force in 2011, numerous prosecutions were brought on the basis of the Bribery Act as well as five of the eight deferred prosecution agreements reached in the UK to date. It…
External Publications 30 Sep, 2020
NCA v Baker & Others [2020] EWHC 822 (Admin) On 8 April 2020, the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice handed down judgment in the matter of NCA v Baker & Ors [2020] EWHC 822 (Admin). The eagerly anticipated judgment of Lang J concerned an application to discharge three Unexplained Wealth Orders (‘UWOs’), and related Interim Freezing Orders (‘IFOs’), previously made by Supperstone J pursuant to sections 362A to 362R of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The UWOs had been obtained by the National Crime Agency (‘NCA’) in relation to three London properties worth approximately £80 million. It was the NCA’s case that there was extensive evidence in support of the applications for UWOs to demonstrate that the…
News 8 Apr, 2020
Oliver Powell, instructed by Roy Tozer and Hannah Frost of Shoosmiths represented a company who were sub-contracted to design and construct a timber frame structure for a commercial building project. The organisation was charged with contravening section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (‘HSWA 1974’) in relation to the design and construction of new timber framed building immediately adjacent to an occupied residential building. It was alleged that the organisation had failed to: ensure that the appropriate category of timber frame was used; and carry out an adequate assessment of the off-site fire risks. For the purposes of the sentencing exercise, the Health and Safety Executive (‘HSE’) initially sought starting points of not less than £250,000, on…
News 2 Mar, 2020
Oliver Powell, instructed by Chris Newton and Alex Penberthy of Keoghs, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in relation to an investigation by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency into breaches under s.58 and s.100 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (‘MSA 1995’). Oliver appeared on behalf of London Party Boats Limited, the owner of the Jewel of London (‘the Vessel’), who pleaded guilty to unsafe operation of a ship contrary to s.100 MSA 1995. Mr Wakefield, the master of the Vessel, was separately represented and pleaded guilty to conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals contrary to s.58 MSA 1995. The case concerned the Vessel colliding with the Metropolitan Police Service Marine Unit workshop pontoon, near Wapping. As the Vessel pulled off…
News 29 Jan, 2020
Oliver Powell and Saaman Pourghadiri have joined with William Bobby and Andrew Thornton-Dibb of McGuireWoods London LLP to examine how the use of legal professional privilege developed during 2019 and, in particular, how the law impacts on the practice of conducting international investigations. The article featured in GIR Insight (25 January 2020). Click here to read the article. Oliver is ranked in both Chambers and Partners (UK) and The Legal 500. He undertakes instructions that involve the regulation of business activity and commerce. His practice encompasses: asset forfeiture & civil recovery; business crime; commercial fraud; financial services; indirect tax and sanctions. Recent work of note includes: representing Behzad Fuels (UK) Ltd, a distributor of diesel and kerosene, in the Court…
News 28 Jan, 2020
Sanctions: Foreign Policy, Economic Warfare, or Both? By Alex Haines and Oliver Powell The law of sanctions and its cross-jurisdictional nature is complex, not least because its sources are both national and international; the measures it covers are both multilateral and unilateral; and the relevant case law has developed at a different pace and in different directions depending on the legal system at play. If the interaction between the four major actors in sanctions– the United Nations (U.N.), the European Union (E.U.), the United States and the United Kingdom (U.K.) –was not complicated and convoluted enough, three 2018 political developments have made a clear grasp of this area even more difficult, by injecting another level of uncertainty: (i) On 18…
News 11 Sep, 2019
Oliver Powell, instructed by Peter Hastings of Rogers & Norton Solicitors, appeared in Court in Southampton in relation to a UK Border Force (‘UKBF’) investigation into a large scale importation of metal vial cream chargers containing 8 gram compressed nitrous oxide (laughing gas) cartridges (‘the Goods’)). Oliver Powell appeared on behalf of Rapid Infusion Limited (‘the Company’), a wholesaler that specialises in the sale of InfusoWhip, a rapid infusion set widely used in the catering industry. It was the UKBF’s case that the Goods imported were liable to forfeiture pursuant to s.49(1)(b) Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (‘CEMA’) by virtue of the fact that the Goods were imported in breach of a prohibition imposed by s.12 PSA 2016. In…
News 4 Sep, 2019
The possibility of individual prosecutions of senior executives for corporate white-collar crime has arisen once more as a result of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached between a subsidiary of multinational outsourcing specialist Serco Group plc (Serco Group) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The DPA, the fifth to be agreed in the UK, also heralds the likelihood that in future parent companies may be expected not just to take responsibility for wayward subsidiaries, but may need to extend remediation group-wide if a DPA is to be in the public interest. SGL agreed to pay a fine of £19.2 million, and the SFO’s costs of £3.7 million. Serco agreed to implement wide-ranging compliance changes across not just SGL but the entire…
News 4 Jul, 2019
Ben Compton QC and Oliver Powell were invited by Port Skills & Safety, a joint venture between UKMPG and the British Ports Association to improve safety standards in the marine industry, to speak at its workshop: “Whose choice is it anyway…?” Ben spoke on the ‘Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences Definitive Guideline’, whilst Oliver conducted a mock trial, as well as sitting on a specialist panel dealing with marine related health and safety questions. Other speakers included: Chris Newton, Partner, and Alex Penberthy, Partner, Keoghs; Mike Yarwood, Claims Executive, TT Club; Stephen Haynes, Programme Manager, Mates in Mind; and Adam Christopher, Director, Active Training Team Ltd. The unique and insightful workshop was designed…
News 23 May, 2019
