In his latest op-ed, for the Toronto Star, our Head of Firm Martin Kenney opines on the likely effectiveness (or otherwise) of the USA’s Corporate Transparency Act, which will create a beneficial ownership database and require the filing of beneficial information from 1st January next year.
Our Head of Investigations, Tony McClements, says that considering the magnitude of fraud that already exists, the UK’s new national “fraud strategy” isn’t likely to have much impact.
Our Head of Investigations, Tony McClements, argues that different agencies need to come together to tackle rampant Covid loan fraud in the UK.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office needs a current or former senior law enforcement officer installed as its head, says Tony McClements.
Martin Kenney welcomes a new initiative from the National Crime Agency to seize corruptly-obtained assets in the UK.
The US Treasury has been eager to establish a corporate ownership registry in its battle against dirty money. Yet the American Bankers Association has described what’s being floated under the Corporate Transparency Act (due to come into force in the US next year) as “fatally flawed”.
It is clear that current whistleblowing rules are not fit for purpose in the UK, argues Tony McClements, and that legislation needs beefing up.
British police and the UK government are woefully failing to prioritise fraud as a crime, leading to greater need for third parties to step in with efforts such as private prosecutions, suggests Shaun Reardon-John.
Martin Kenney welcomes a decision by the European Court of Justice that open beneficial ownership registers – sometimes called open UBO registers – are incompatible with the right to privacy. Unlimited transparency isn’t necessarily effective in the battle against economic criminals, he warns.
Tony McClements, managing director of investigations at MKS, welcomes the review of the confiscation regime announced by the Law Commission in the UK.
