Global Glimpses

The U.K. Serious Fraud Office closed two long-running bribery and corruption cases against Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline—a decision that casts further doubt around the effectiveness of the SFO’s investigatory powers and makes companies question the purpose of entering a deferred prosecution agreement at all.

Facebook behaves like a “digital gangster,” has deliberately broken privacy and competition law, and should be subject to statutory regulation urgently, according to a U.K. parliamentary report.

The E3 has set up a special trade channel designed to allow companies in the European Union to circumvent U.S. sanctions in an effort to continue humanitarian trade with Iran.

The European Banking Authority is formally investigating a possible breach of Union law by the Financial Services Authorities of Estonia and Denmark in connection to the Danske Bank money-laundering scandal.

An in-depth look at responses to the Competition and Markets Authority proposals to reform the U.K. audit market.

A steep uptick in potential privacy violations has hit Europe, eight months after it issued stringent data privacy regulations.

A former executive of Petrofac pleaded guilty this week to bribery offenses in connection with an ongoing investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office into the oilfield services company and its subsidiaries.

EU co-legislators agreed this week on new rules to facilitate establishing businesses electronically and promote online operations throughout a company’s lifecycle. The new rules aim to save companies time and money, while increasing safeguards against fraud and abusive behaviour through online identity checks.

Only half of U.K. company secretaries feel that the level of service their organisations get from their external auditor has improved in the wake of the Carillion crisis and other corporate governance scandals.

The Institute of Business Ethics has recorded which industries had the most negative news coverage in the past year.

The World Bank has imposed a three-year debarment on Brazil-based construction and engineering company Construtora Norberto Odebrecht for fraudulent and collusive practices during its participation in the World Bank-financed Río Bogotá Environmental Recuperation and Flood Control Project in Colombia.

Following an open competition, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has appointed two new members to its senior management team: a chief intelligence officer and a new head of corporate services.

The European Commission on 22 January 2019 fined Mastercard 570.6 million euros (U.S. $648 million) for anticompetitive behavior, in breach of EU antitrust rules.

France’s data protection regulator recently slapped Google with a substantial €50 million (U.S. $57 million) fine for failing to provide users with clear, accurate, and informative details on its data use policies.

Danske Bank said it might again become subject to a formal investigation in France, instead of being an assisted witness, in connection with an ongoing investigation into organised money laundering of tax evasion proceeds.

The Home Secretary and Chancellor will jointly chair a new government taskforce, the Economic Crime Strategic Board, to work with senior figures from the U.K. financial sector to tackle economic crime, the U.K. government announced on 14 January.

With one of the most devastating losses in the history of British politics, Prime Minister Theresa May was handed a rebuke of her proposed Brexit framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

While the current Brexit deal (set to be voted on Tuesday evening) remains the U.K. government’s top priority, it understands preparation for all scenarios is necessary.

Nicholas Reynolds received four years and six months imprisonment and was ordered to pay costs of £50,000 (U.S. $62,930) for his part in a conspiracy to bribe officials in Lithuania’s Elektrenai power station and senior Lithuanian politicians in order to win two contracts worth €240 million (U.S. $273 million), the U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced.

The Paris Criminal Court on Dec. 21 found French oil and gas company Total SA guilty of bribing a foreign public official and ordered the company to pay a €500,000 (U.S. $570,000) fine.

EU ambassadors on 19 December 2018 agreed to give the European Banking Authority (EBA) more power over anti-money-laundering supervision for financial institutions, but some doubt the effectiveness of these measures.

A reform package introduced recently by the U.K. government aims to increase transparency and tackle corruption in limited partnerships.

British Prime Minister Theresa May withstood a parliamentary “no confidence” vote, keeping her efforts for a U.K. exit from the European Union on track, if not any less contentious and fragile.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued its long-awaited corporate governance standards for private companies, providing a framework to help the companies meet legal requirements and improve and disclose their governance.

Amid faltering odds that became apparent during three days of debate, British Prime Minister Theresa May has, at least temporarily, withdrawn her much-maligned Brexit plan from Parliamentary voting consideration.