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TI UK’s Unlocking Ownership Data report provides guidance for UK offshore jurisdictions to enhance BO transparency through clear definitions, accessible registers, and compliance with global standards

September 13, 2025

The report outlines guidelines for defining beneficial ownership, establishing transparent reporting requirements, and ensuring accessible public registers, including Legitimate Interest Access Registers of Beneficial Ownership (LIARBOs). It emphasizes the need for clear legal definitions, timely reporting, and safeguards to balance transparency with privacy rights. The guidance aims to support the UK’s Overseas…

UK SFO secures £1.1M with its first Unexplained Wealth Order, recovering a Lake District property linked to Timothy Schools’ £19M fraud scheme

September 9, 2025

The Unexplained Wealth Order targets a Lake District property owned by Claire Schools, purchased with proceeds from her ex-husband Timothy Schools’ £100 million investment fraud. Timothy Schools, sentenced to 14 years in 2022, admitted transferring over £1 million of illicit funds, and the SFO continues to investigate his remaining assets…

TI UK’s ‘Silencing the Auditor’ report exposes how Gibraltar’s Govt obstructed financial oversight by blocking AML audits and authorising over £13M in unexplained ex-gratia payments

August 25, 2025

The Principal Auditor describes repeated unconstitutional interference by senior government officials, undermining transparency and anti-corruption safeguards. He claims the Govt made a series of ex-gratia payments worth over £13M between April 2018 and May 2025 without adequate explanation. The report describes these as ‘excessive and in many cases unwarranted’, and included payments to police officers retiring since April 2020…

UK SFO charges 6 individuals in £75M pension scam that duped 1,900 investors with fake ‘guaranteed’ returns on storage units, exposing SIPP gaps and prompting a fraud crackdown

July 24, 2025

Between 2011 and 2014, over 1,900 UK investors were allegedly misled into transferring their pensions to acquire leaseholds on storage units, lured by promises of guaranteed rental returns. According to the SFO, the defendants—Toby Whittaker, Stephen Michael Talbot, Stuart Grehan (aka Stuart Chapman-Clark), Terence Wright, Emma Hawkins (aka Emma Grehan), and a sixth unnamed person are accused of making false representations…

UK SFO freezes over £11K in cryptocurrency assets belonging to CEO of the collapsed Arena TV, marking its first use of new powers tackling crypto-related fraud

July 18, 2025

The assets were frozen following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and will be held for up to nine months to allow any affected parties to come forward. The ongoing investigation has involved a raid, three arrests, and the search of three properties. Director of Operations Emma Luxton emphasized the SFO’s commitment to using every tool at its disposal to prevent criminals…

ICC’s 2025 Anti-corruption Clause aligns with its 2023 Rules, serving as a self-regulatory tool for businesses and a roadmap for governments to fight corruption

July 2, 2025

The clause provides model wording to help businesses embed anti-corruption commitments in contracts, promotes a risk-based and flexible approach, supports broader compliance frameworks, emphasizes conflict-of-interest prevention, and includes definitions, examples, and guidance on due diligence, monitoring, and post-contract safeguards…

UK SFO and U.S. DoJ strengthen their alliance to combat cross-border FC, boosting intelligence sharing and joint enforcement efforts against bribery, ML, fraud, and asset recovery

June 27, 2025

In a recent meeting, SFO Director Nick Ephgrave and DOJ Criminal Division Head Matthew Galeotti discussed strategies to encourage voluntary self-disclosure by companies and expedite complex investigations, aligning with the DOJ’s updated white-collar crime enforcement plan…

UK SFO joins the IACCC to intensify its anti-corruption efforts, targeting high-level bribery involving PEPs and tracing billions in illicit assets through enhanced intelligence and global coordination

June 26, 2025

This move builds on the SFO’s earlier creation of a tri‑national taskforce with France’s PNF and Switzerland’s OAG to tackle international bribery. The SFO will now play a key role in coordinated efforts targeting PEPs and complex bribery schemes, leveraging IACCC’s track record of tracing over £1.8 billion in suspected stolen assets…

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announces a global Summit on Countering Illicit Finance and Corruption in London, aiming to crack down on kleptocracy and drive dirty money out of the UK markets

June 24, 2025

He outlined a new doctrine of “progressive realism,” positioning Britain as a global leader in financial integrity and rule-based cooperation. Highlighting the City’s pivotal role in global tech and finance, he emphasized building new coalitions—including with the Global South—and using the UK’s financial and legal strength to tackle corruption, sanctions evasion, and geopolitical instability in a rapidly shifting world…

UK SFO secures an £8M funding boost to expand digital tools, enhance intelligence, and accelerate asset recovery in its intensified fight to tackle fraud, bribery, and corruption

June 12, 2025

This investment will enhance the SFO’s intelligence capabilities, enabling earlier detection and intervention in complex criminal activities. It will also support the development of advanced digital tools to improve case management and disclosure processes, as well as bolster the agency’s ability to recover criminal assets, including digital currencies. The funding reflects the government’s ongoing commitment to modernize the UK’s financial crime infrastructure and protect the economy from fraud and corruption…

UK SFO launches investigation into Rockfire Investment Finance over alleged multimillion-pound fraud involving £100M+ in solar farm investments by the collapsed Thurrock Council

June 3, 2025

The SFO is actively pursuing evidence and has issued Section 2 notices to financial institutions, compelling them to provide information critical to uncovering the scope of the suspected fraud, tracing the movement of funds, and identifying those responsible. This investigation highlights ongoing risks linked to local authority investments in complex financial products and the growing regulatory focus on protecting public funds…

FCA bans former Credit Suisse VP from UK financial services over a US conviction for laundering kickbacks linked to corrupt Mozambique loans, citing lack of integrity

May 23, 2025

The ruling underscores the FCA’s zero-tolerance approach to individuals involved in serious financial crime, particularly where integrity is compromised. It reinforces the expectation that those working in UK financial services must uphold the highest standards of conduct and accountability…

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