In a speech to the Africa Jubilee Business Forum on 13 May 2013, which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union), Nick Clegg, Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, pledged Britain’s commitment to implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( EITI). read more
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Under a new policy introduced by French President Francois Holland, members of the French government will have to make public asset declarations. read more
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David Cameron, in the run up to the G-8 industrialised nations summit which he will chair in Northern Ireland in June, has outlined his plans for an international deal to increase the transparency of oil, gas and mining corporations. read more
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Transparency International has published an interesting news feature on the numerous examples of corrupt senior politicians relying on immunities to avoid prosecution and legal proceedings. read more
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The Serious Fraud office has recently issued a statement in relation to its role in civil recovery. In its investigations of serious fraud cases, which include cases involving bribery and corruption, the SFO can exercise powers available to it under Part V of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which deals with civil recoveries. read more
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The SFO has commenced a criminal investigation into the activities of FTSE-listed mining firm Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). read more
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Former Egyptian finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali has been sentenced to life in prison for corruption by a Cairo criminal court. read more
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Corruption has been simply defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. In many countries corruption is a problem of enormous proportions, with substantial theft of public funds and the payment of bribes for the award of public contracts or other business advantages. read more
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Substantial bribery cases often have international dimensions. Bribes may, for example, be agreed in one country, be paid by a foreign briber (located in a second country) to a nominee company incorporated in a third country, relate to a contract performed in a fourth country, but be subject to the law of a fifth jurisdiction. read more
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In 2009, an inquiry by a retired British Court of Appeal judge cast a light on widespread corruption in the Turks & Caicos Islands (‘TCI’), a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, popular for tourism and financ ial services. read more
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In civil corruption cases, it is critical at the outset to secure the assets being claimed at the earliest stage. read more
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One objective at the outset of, and throughout, a civil case to recover the proceeds of corruption is to obtain evidence to strengthen the claim and identify other illegitimate assets. read more
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A search order is an order available in civil proceedings to secure evidence. It is a draconian order that permits the representatives of a litigant, under the supervision of an independent solicitor, to enter specified premises and search for, copy, remove and detain specified documents or categories of documents, including those stored electronically. read more
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Corruption cases are typically international and multi-jurisdictional. Bribes for the award of public contracts or stolen public funds may be paid into foreign accounts or used to acquire foreign properties or other assets; the proceeds of corruption may be laundered through a number of countries, usually major financial centres or offshore havens. read more
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Foreign Governments and their anti-corruption agencies have available the full range of mechanisms envisaged by the United Nations Convention against Corruption when seeking to locate, freeze and recover the proceeds of corruption located or laundered through the United Kingdom. read more
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The laundering of the proceeds of corruption does not stop at borders. Nor then can the investigation and prosecution of corruption. read more
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Locating and recovering money stolen and laundered internationally by corrupt public officials offers many challenges. read more
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The United Nations’ Stolen Asset Recovery team recently reported that it has returned £19 million to Tunisia, which it recovered from ex-President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali ( Ben Ali). read more
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When Transparency International published its “Business Principles for Countering Bribery” in 2003, the concept of a dedicated programme for corporate anti-bribery enforcement was relatively new in the UK. read more
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New EU legislation, which will come into force later this year, requires all companies listed on EU stock exchanges (and all large unlisted companies that are registered in the EU) to publish contractual payments made to governments in the form of taxes, royalties and other payments, and to also report their earnings in the countries in which they operate. read more
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