On 10 July 2025, the UK raised the threshold below which certain regulated firms can perform acts that would otherwise constitute a money laundering offence. The new threshold is £3,000. This is the second rise in the...more
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) recently secured its first forfeiture of sanctioned funds. This was a landmark achievement for the NCA’s Combatting Kleptocracy Cell, which has only existed since 2022 and aims to...more
The UK Court of Appeal recently held that the National Crime Agency’s decision not to investigate whether cotton goods manufactured in China and imported to the UK were the product of forced labour was unlawful — a decision...more
On 20 January 2023, the High Court in London issued a historic judgment in relation to the World Uyghur Congress’ (WUC) challenge to the UK government’s failure to investigate the importation of cotton produced in China’s...more
The Law Commission has published its much anticipated report on reform of the UK's anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regime, and in particular of the system of suspicious activity reports ("SARs"). The proposed...more
Lonsdale v National Westminster Bank [2018] EWHC 1843 (QB) (18 July 2018) - A bank was ordered to disclose, to a customer, suspicious activity reports (SARs) that the bank had sent to the National Crime Agency (NCA) at the...more
Canada legalised recreational cannabis in October 2018 and it may be that other countries follow suit. UK and US investors, and those who facilitate investments in legal recreational cannabis businesses overseas, need to be...more
On 7 March 2016, the new Police and Crime Bill (the “Bill”) received its second reading in Parliament. The stated aims of the Bill are to bring consistency to all penalties across the UK financial sanctions regimes, increase...more