Blog
Our indepth research and reports help build consensus for making the laws work.
Cleaning up the audit sector: why the government should consider banning Ernst & Young from public contracts
16th November On Friday 13th November, Spotlight on Corruption wrote to the government’s procurement body, the Crown Commercial Service, asking it to review whether the accountancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) should be banned from bidding on public contracts for...
The UK’s corporate crime rules – why urgent change is needed
Summary The Law Commission’s recent announcement that it will review corporate crime rules is a welcome and important step towards reforming the UK’s antiquated principle for prosecuting companies; The government has given the Law Commission until the end of 2021 to...
What can we learn from COVID-19 loan transparency in the United States?
Publishing the names of COVID-19 loan recipients could be a crucial way of recouping billions of pounds lost to fraud and wrongful claims. Last week, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report into the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) that revealed the taxpayer...
FinCEN Files: UK’s failure to prosecute high-end money laundering shows UK banks are above the law
21 September 2020 The release of the FinCEN files exposes the role of big banks in facilitating money laundering as well as demonstrating how UK banks are beyond the reaches of the law. For the past few years, the government has focused almost exclusively on...
Blind Trusts: are they enough to avoid conflicts of interest?
16 September 2020 The Guardian reported on the 3rd September that Lord Agnew had relinquished control over his shares in Faculty Science after Spotlight on Corruption and several media outlets flagged a potential conflict of interest between his position in government...
Unaoil – a very complicated win for the Serious Fraud Office
13 July 2020 In a much-needed win for the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, two out of three of those it was prosecuting for corruption in the Unaoil case were found guilty. The case has exposed some ugly competition between global enforcement agencies, and some alarming...
The NCA’s Kazakh Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) – a costly decision?
1 July 2020 On 17 June 2020, Lady Justice Carr unequivocally refused the National Crime Agency’s (“NCA”) application for permission to appeal. The NCA had sought to challenge Justice Lang’s decision to discharge the unexplained wealth orders (“UWO”) against the Aliyev...
Transparency in COVID-19 public bailouts
Along with the Fraud Advisory Panel and Transparency International UK, we wrote to the government on 16 June to ask them to publish the names of all those who have received bailout loans. The letter can be seen here. Here we explain why such transparency is needed. ...
Can the criminal courts by safely observed during Covid to maintain open justice?
As jury trials resume, how safe will the public feel to travel to observe them and if they don’t is open justice being upheld?
Are conflicts of interest being managed properly in government during COVID-19? The case of NHSX
Spotlight blog by Daniel Beizsley on whether conflicts of interest are being managed properly during the COVID-19 crisis and the curious case of NHSX.
From Hajiyeva to Aliyev: Where Next for Unexplained Wealth Orders?
The ruling to discharge the UK’s second Unexplained Wealth Order against Kazakh political figures in early April raises some key issues for the regime discussed in this blog.
The new economic crime levy – is it enough?
In the government’s 2020 budget on the 12th of March, the Chancellor announced that the government would consult in the spring about introducing an ‘economic crime levy’ on those firms…
Iraqi case in UK courts brings bribery in the oil industry to the surface
UK courts started hearing the first ever criminal trial in the UK of employees of an intermediary company that is charged with paying bribes on behalf of large Western oil companies..
Where next for Deferred Prosecution Agreements
This blog in the Law Gazette by Susan Hawley, Professor Nicholas Lord and Colin King raises some questions about how the current UK Deferred Prosecution Agreement regime is working.
Are the UK courts fit for purpose for fighting overseas corruption?
In November 2019, the UK’s longest running corruption trial, Alstom, came to an end. This Spotlight on Corruption briefing looks at the
lessons from the case, and asks whether the case has created perverse incentives to companies to fight it out in the courts rather than come clean to law enforcement.
Guralp’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and individual acquittals – questions for the SFO on its prosecution strategy
On December 20th, the SFO announced a DPA with Guralp Systems Ltd – the day that three individuals were acquitted by a court for the same wrongdoing outlined in the DPA. This blog looks at the implications and lessons.
Is enforcement in the UK to end the UK’s role in corruption working?
Blog by Susan Hawley for Centre for Study of Corruption at Sussex University.
Financing Bribery?
Presentation by Sue Hawley to the OECD about the role of Export Credit Agencies in fighting corruption.
New account freezing orders for money laundering get boost from the courts
The National Crime Agency successfully saw off an appeal against new anti-money laundering powers created in 2017, the Account Freezing Order, used in the Moldovan ‘theft of the century’ case.
10 actions to fight corruption
UK anti-corruption groups came together in October to launch a manifesto for fighting corruption