News & Events
News & Events
Robert Rhodes QC, Outer Temple Chambers business crime specialist, questions the SFO’s decision to prosecute both Barclays Bank and various directors. He points out that Barclays did not have to turn to the taxpayer for the support that it received during the financial crisis. He asserts that “the events are too far in the past and the consequences too dire for small shareholders”, doubts whether the individual defendants can receive a fair trial if Barclays pleads guilty, and suggests that prosecuting Barclays directors so long after the event “is inhumane”. Robert emphasises that “(s)erious fraud must be prosecuted and punished if the evidence is available, and it is in the public interest to prosecute”, but queries whether there is any…
External Publications 20 Jul, 2017
On 8 May 2017 Mrs Justice Andrews DBE handed down judgment in SFO v ENRC [2017] EWHC 1017 (QB), which has significant implications for claims to legal professional privilege in the context of internal investigations. The case was listed as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2017. The judgment is available to read here. Saaman Pourghadiri was junior counsel for the Defendant company resisting a claim by the SFO that documents, including notes of interviews taken by lawyers, were not privileged. The judge found that the documents (save for one category) were subject to neither legal advice privilege nor litigation privilege. In respect of litigation privilege the court found that (i) anticipation of an SFO raid, and the…
News 10 May, 2017
A new French law for transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernisation of the economy (referred to as “Sapin II”), has been in force since 10 December 2016. Christophe Jolk takes a look at some of the provisions and their longer-term implications for corporations: 1. New centralised French anti-corruption agency The Sapin II law has created a new anti-corruption agency, which aims amongst other things, to: centralise and diffuse information relating to the fight against corruption issue recommendations to prevent and detect corruption control and monitor Hindering the agency in its work can incur a fine of up to 30,000 euros. 2. Legal status of whistleblowers clarified The law defines a whistleblower as someone who reports in good faith…
News 30 Jan, 2017
We were delighted to support Michael Bowes QC, our joint Head of Chambers, at the launch of the Global Investigations Review (GIR) – The Practitioner’s Guide to International Investigations. The launch event took place at Somerset House and was attended by a high number of key influencers within this rapidly growing sector. Michael Bowes QC and his fellow co-editors (Judith Seddon, Eleanor Davison, Christopher Morvillo and Luke Tolaini) have produced the essential desktop reference for navigating complex corporate investigations, Michael’s role as co-editor demonstrates firmly his place as a leading silk in this area. GIR has published The Practitioner’s Guide to International Investigations in response to the ever increasing likelihood that a company and its key people will become embroiled…
News 25 Jan, 2017
Panama Papers and Investigative Journalism at the heart of the agenda The 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference will take place from 1st – 4th December in Panama City. Leading experts from a wide variety of disciplines will discuss how to best take the fight against corruption forward under the theme Time for Justice: Equity, Security, Trust. The four-day event will be opened by the President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez. With more than 1,500 participants from all over the world, this edition of the conference will have a particular focus on the enablers of corruption and investigative journalism with in-depth discussions of the Panama Papers. Michael Bowes’ panel session is entitled “Integrity Pioneers and Community Solutions to…
News 28 Nov, 2016
Michael Bowes QC, David Russell QC, Teresa Rosen Peacocke and Christophe Jolk participated in the New York State Bar Association’s Season Meeting in Paris last week (October 19-21). Chambers has a close association with the Chair of the NYSBA International Section, Neil Quartaro (Wilson, Farley and Williams LLP), through David Russell QC. This prestigious event took place on the Ile de la Cité, next to the Palais de Justice. It was attended by a high calibre group of lawyers from many different jurisdictions. David and Christophe participated in a panel which discussed the Common Reporting Standard and Automatic Exchange of Information, with particular reference to the wealth industry. This is highly topical across the world at present and its importance is reflected in some…
News 25 Oct, 2016
The National Crime Agency estimates that billions of pounds of illicit wealth is laundered through the UK each year, that asset recovery levels are low and there are insufficient resources for law enforcement. In these circumstances, Transparency International has called for the introduction of Unexplained Wealth Orders to help the fight against corrupt money coming into the UK; the organisation held a breakfast briefing to address this on Tuesday, 27 September 2016, at Outer Temple Chambers. The briefing was provided by Eva Anderson, TI-UK Senior Legal Adviser, Robert Barrington, TI-UK Executive Director, James Maton, Partner at Cooley LLP, and Michael Bowes QC, Head of Outer Temple Chambers and Trustee of TI-UK. During the lively and informative session, the four panellists…
News 19 Oct, 2016
David Russell QC has recently co-written an article for Trusts & Trustees on the topic of the Panama Papers in which he analyses some of the implications that this data leak has for the role of confidentiality in today’s world. The article draws attention on the fact that ‘(c)orruption is a crime of the powerful’ and, consequently, it has to be treated as such. David suggests therefore, that ‘courts and legislators should be astute to ensure the availability of appropriate remedies’. When speaking about the regulatory remedies against corruption, David shows that it is not obvious what are their effects on corruption, apart from the one ‘on the availability of banking services through the so-called de-risking process’. In these circumstances,…
News 6 Jul, 2016
Oliver Powell, led by Senior Treasury Counsel, was instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service in confiscation proceedings that emanated from convictions in relation to the sale of fake bomb detectors. On 23 April 2013 Mr McCormick was convicted of three counts of fraud contrary to s.7(1) FA 2006 and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Owing to the fact that Mr McCormick had benefitted from his criminal conduct the Court directed that there be confiscation proceedings. At the hearing this week, HHJ Hone QC ordered that the benefit of Mr McCormick’s offending amounted to a sum in excess of £21 million and that Mr McCormick had realisable assets totalling nearly £8 million. The realisable assets included a number of properties, motor…
News 17 Jun, 2016
Through his article for this month’s IBA Anti-Corruption newsletter, Michael explores concerns about the DPA procedure and makes a detailed analysis of both the transparency of the DPA investigative process and the potential unfairness in the naming of third parties. As a starting point, Michael and the co-author remind the reader about the first DPA that has been approved by an UK Court, in a case related to the failure of Standard Bank PLC to prevent bribery in Tanzania. This case’s circumstances “give rise to two legitimate general concerns, namely the level of transparency in the investigative process leading to a DPA, and the fairness of naming a person as being guilty of bribery in circumstances where that person has…
News 16 Jun, 2016
Following the UK’s Anti-Corruption Global Summit hosted by the Prime Minister David Cameron on 12 May 2016, Michael Bowes QC and Robert Barrington, Executive Director of Transparency International UK, spoke at joint Transparency International and Outer Temple Chambers Summit-related breakfast briefing. The event was held on 16 May, at Outer Temple Chambers, with senior representatives of selected organisations both attending and contributing to discussions with valuable ideas and suggestions. During the talks, Michael and Robert emphasised that the hard work begins now for both global governments and corporates alike. In his role as leading advocate within the industry, Michael was heavily involved in the pre-Summit conference. Click here to find out more.
News 17 May, 2016
The Leaders’ Anti-Corruption Manifesto represents an impressive project consisting of a diverse collection of statements given by over 50 international leaders in business and civil society. Through these statements, the world leaders show their views on the progress that should be achieved at the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron. Michael Bowes QC, trustee of Transparency International UK and one of the leaders invited to give statement, promotes a simple but demanding message: ‘turn the talk into action’. Michael asserts, among others, that ‘(t)he Panama Papers scandal is a siren call to arms […] ‘ and that has already have significant effect: ‘on 15 April five EU law enforcement agencies in the UK, Germany, France,…
News 11 May, 2016
