George Staple and Karen Anderson
Draft regulations published for consultation by the government under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 would create statutory rights of action for loss suffered as a…
Abstract
Draft regulations published for consultation by the government under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 would create statutory rights of action for loss suffered as a result of regulatory breach by banks and insurers, and would extend such rights to cases where an authorised firm exceeds the scope of its regulatory permission. Although the effect may, in many cases, be to impose strict liability in a wide range of cases, no case has been made out to justify the expansion of statutory civil liability in the financial services sector.
The Serious Fraud Office was set up on the recommendation of the Roskill Committee by the Criminal Justice Act 1987. It is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of…
Abstract
The Serious Fraud Office was set up on the recommendation of the Roskill Committee by the Criminal Justice Act 1987. It is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of serious and complex fraud. In recent years the Office has been criticised for the way in which it handles cases, largely as a result of the perception that there have been too many acquittals in the cases which it has chosen to prosecute. In this interview, Matthew Weait discusses the role and aims and problems of the Office with its present Director, George Staple. Mr Staple considers the problems which the Office faces, the extent to which he considers criticism justified and wider issues relating to the effective prosecution of fraud. George Staple, 52, took up the post of Director in April 1992. Formerly senior litigation Partner of Clifford Chance, he was appointed in 1986 as a Companies Act Inspector. Between 1987 and 1991 he sat as a Chairman of the Authorisation and Disciplinary Tribunal of the Securities Association and the Securities and Futures Authority. For many years Mr Staple was a member of the Commercial Court Committee and served as Treasurer of the Law Society from 1989 to 1992.
Since the abolition of exchange control in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it has been possible instantly to transfer money of any amount or denomination virtually anywhere in the…
Abstract
Since the abolition of exchange control in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it has been possible instantly to transfer money of any amount or denomination virtually anywhere in the world. It means that, because the criminal law is territorially based, and differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the investigation and prosecution of fraud and the related offences of money laundering and corruption are peculiarly dependent upon mutual legal assistance between states.
Nobody knows how much money derived from drug trafficking, fraud, pornography, prostitution, smuggling and corruption is laundered every year through the financial system…
Abstract
Nobody knows how much money derived from drug trafficking, fraud, pornography, prostitution, smuggling and corruption is laundered every year through the financial system. Estimates vary from $500bn to $1,000bn. It could be more.
Almost without exception, the investigation of serious fraud cases involves the making of enquiries, and the obtaining of admissible evidence, overseas.
KAREN ANDERSON, CHRIS BATES and GEORGE STAPLE
A “complete” overhaul of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom has changed the landscape considerably. The authors have outlined some of the events that prompted…
Abstract
A “complete” overhaul of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom has changed the landscape considerably. The authors have outlined some of the events that prompted the change. They take you along a road map of the new structure exploring the breadth and scope of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Philip Summe and Kimberly A. McCoy
Throughout the history of commerce, individuals have searched for informational advantages that will lead to their enrichment. In a time of global capital markets, 24 hours a day…
Abstract
Throughout the history of commerce, individuals have searched for informational advantages that will lead to their enrichment. In a time of global capital markets, 24 hours a day trading opportunities, and a professional services corps of market experts, informational advantages are pursued by virtually every market participant. This paper examines one of the most vilified informational advantages in modern capital markets: insider trading. In the USA during the 1980s, insider trading scandals occupied the front pages of not only the trade papers, but also quotidian tabloids. Assailed for its unfairness and characterised by some as thievery, insider trading incidents increased calls for stricter regulation of the marketplace and its participants. In the aftermath of the spectacular insider trading litigation in the USA in the late 1980s, many foreign states began to re‐evaluate the effectiveness of their own regulatory structures. In large part, this reassessment was not the produce of domestic demand, but constituted a response to American agitation for increased regulation of insider trading.
The integrity of the financial markets in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong) is maintained by an approach which involves cooperation between government, the…
Abstract
The integrity of the financial markets in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong) is maintained by an approach which involves cooperation between government, the banking sector, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (the HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission (the SFC) and the industry itself.
Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 abrogates the right to silence since a suspect is required to answer questions in pre‐trial investigations by the SFO, although the…
Abstract
Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 abrogates the right to silence since a suspect is required to answer questions in pre‐trial investigations by the SFO, although the answers are inadmissible as evidence unless proceedings are brought under s. 2(14) for giving false information or by s. 2(8), where the individual ‘makes a statement inconsistent with it’. In a previous article, the writer has considered the necessity and effectiveness of s. 2 powers. It is also instructive to analyse the conceptual basis of s. 2 powers since this will aid in the interpretation of statutory ambiguities and will allow the courts to have a uniformity of approach when seeking to resolve the statutory ambiguities. The conceptual basis is also important as concerns the resolution of where the line lies between the effective investigation of offences pursuant to s. 2 and the rights of the individual subject to such questioning. A critical examination of the above issues demands steering a careful course between normative rules and theory: in this area above all others it is impossible and undesirable to divorce one from the other.
Serious fraud trials are the sum of their component parts such that examination of one particular area often repays attention. The Roskill Fraud Trials Committee's criticisms were…
Abstract
Serious fraud trials are the sum of their component parts such that examination of one particular area often repays attention. The Roskill Fraud Trials Committee's criticisms were the backdrop for the Criminal Justice Act 1987 and the enhanced investigatory powers that are to be found in s. 2 thereof. Seven years after the enactment of the 1987 Act it is apposite to examine whether in derogating from the confines of traditional criminal evidential practices a certain level of procedural and substantive fairness has been maintained. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and its application to the rights of a suspect are also of importance. A critical examination of the above issues demands steering a careful course between normative rules and theory: in this area above all others it is impossible and undesirable to divorce one from the other.