The Economic Crime Act: What Will Change For Managers Of Offshore Structures

The law around indecent images is evolving fast to keep up with artificial intelligence. Today’s AI tools can create incredibly realistic sexual images and videos, including of children, from scratch or by manipulating innocent photos. These “synthetic” indecent images raise urgent questions: is it illegal to make or possess them if no real child was physically harmed? What about AI “deepfakes” that put someone’s face into a sexual image?

When you hit a parked car without realising it, you may still face prosecution under UK law even if you were unaware of the incident. Understanding your legal obligations to stop, leave details, and report the collision is essential to avoid serious penalties including penalty points, unlimited fines, and potential imprisonment.

Domestic violence bail conditions can be far-reaching. If you are released on bail during a domestic abuse investigation, you may be required to leave your own home, to stay away from a partner or family member, and to limit contact with your children, all before any decision to charge has been made. These conditions can be challenged, and getting early advice on them matters, because they can remain in place for a long time while an investigation continues.

As under the previous UK bribery laws, facilitation payments, i.e. small bribes to facilitate routine government action, remain illegal (unless the foreign official is permitted or required to be influenced by such payments under the written law applicable in the relevant country).

When police issue a Section 172 notice requiring you to identify who was driving your vehicle during an alleged traffic offence, failing to respond correctly can result in six penalty points, unlimited fines and possible disqualification. Understanding your legal obligations, available defences and the consequences of non-compliance is essential to protecting your driving licence and avoiding a criminal conviction.

If you or someone close to you is facing an allegation of murder, you are likely feeling overwhelmed, frightened and unsure what will happen next. Murder investigations move quickly, the consequences are severe, and the process can feel impenetrable to anyone unfamiliar with the criminal justice system. 

A CIFAS marker is a record placed by CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, to alert financial institutions about potential fraud risks associated with an individual.

Understanding how to respond to a Section 172 notice is crucial for anyone involved in an alleged road traffic offence. This comprehensive guide explains the legal requirements for identifying the driver, the information you must provide, and the serious consequences of failing to comply correctly. Learn what steps to take if you cannot identify who was driving and when you should seek legal advice to protect your position.

In the UK the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO") obtained its first conviction against a corporation for bribing foreign officials.

BCL Solicitors' partners have earned recognition as leading lawyers in criminal investigations, while the firm's experts analyze high-profile cases and systemic reforms shaping the UK criminal justice system.

This advisory examines the lifecycle of a typical special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) through its initial public offering, highlighting current market trends, sponsor economics, SEC disclosure requirements, Nasdaq listing developments, and the practical considerations that shape today's SPAC transactions.

Every few months, I find myself in a familiar conversation with a foreign investor who is approaching a French transaction for the first time. They have done cross-border deals before, and have done their research. They usually arrive with a version of the same assumption: that France is more complicated than it needs to be, that the regulatory environment is from a different era, and that with the right advisors, the complexity can be “figured out.”

Today, scrutiny is no longer confined to public equities markets. In a pair of recent prosecutions, including last week’s indictment of a Google employee, the Department of Justice has made clear that it will pursue insider trading type cases wherever (i) confidential data moves prices, and (ii) a duty-bound actor exploits that data for trading advantage, even outside the securities laws. Prediction markets and crypto platforms appear to be the primary testing ground for this expanded enforcement theory

The Department of Justice has launched the National Fraud Detection Center, a new initiative that leverages data analytics to identify potential fraud patterns across federal programs. This cross-agency collaboration brings together prosecutors, analysts, and investigators to detect misconduct that might otherwise remain hidden in siloed datasets. The expansion of data-driven enforcement carries significant implications for companies receiving federal funds or engaging with multiple government agencies.

The rumors of the death of price discrimination enforcement may have been greatly exaggerated. The Robinson-Patman Act ("RPA") (15 U.S.C. §13), enacted in 1936, prohibits price discrimination by producers and resellers of goods between similarly situated purchasers.

M&A comes with its own language, structures, and complexities. Our new M&A Spotlight series is designed to make them easier to navigate.

Last month, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ") and the Federal Trade Commission released the 2023 Merger Guidelines.

The Delaware Court of Chancery ruled in LACERS v. Sanford that failures to investigate and remediate credible allegations of workplace sexual misconduct can support shareholder breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors and officers.

New York City's new pied-à-terre surcharge introduces a "renovation gap" that may unexpectedly impact property owners during major construction projects. Partners Alexandra Wald and Nicholas Kaiser analyze why owners of properties that cannot be legally occupied during renovations may still face the surcharge, and what stakeholders should consider to navigate this complex issue.

When it comes to employee terminations, documentation and process can be just as important as the ultimate decision.