On 20 March 2025, enforcement authorities in the UK, France and Switzerland announced the creation of the International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce. The taskforce is comprised of:
- The UK’s Serious Fraud...more
The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its sanctions policy toward Russia by implementing two rounds of restrictive measures that are intended to further intensify pressure on Russia’s government and economy. Specifically,...more
3/18/2025
/ Asset Freeze ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Export Bans ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Ten years after its establishment, France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (Parquet National Financier or PNF) has released its 2024 annual report (Report),1 showcasing a year of consolidation and innovation in the...more
2/20/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Law Enforcement ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Tax Evasion ,
White Collar Crimes
European Union member states have until 20 May 2025 to transpose into their national legislation EU Directive (EU) 2024/1226 (the Directive), which establishes minimum rules on the definition of criminal offences and...more
11/18/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Asset Freeze ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanction Violations ,
Sanctions ,
Trade Restrictions ,
White Collar Crimes
The Council of the European Union (Council) has updated its EU Best Practices for the Effective Implementation of Restrictive Measures. Published on 3 July 2024, the new version clarifies the threshold for the ownership test...more
In Nuctech Warsaw (T-284/24), the EU Court of Justice held that EU subsidiaries can lawfully be required to provide access to email accounts and data held by their overseas parent company. The ruling involved the following...more
8/26/2024
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
On 24 June 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted its 14th sanctions package directed against Russia, imposing an asset freeze against an additional 116 individuals and entities and expanding sectoral sanctions targeting key...more
7/26/2024
/ Asset Freeze ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Exit Transactions ,
Export Controls ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Institutions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment ,
Liability ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Risk Assessment ,
Russia ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Secrets ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On March 26, 2024, the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) published a guide on how to engage in corporate sponsorship and charitable donation activities while appropriately mitigating corruption risks (the Guide)...more
5/13/2024
/ AFA ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Charitable Donations ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
EU ,
France ,
Internal Investigations ,
New Guidance ,
Self-Reporting ,
Sponsorship Agreements ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
On 23 February 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted a 13th package of sanctions against Russia, imposing asset freezes on additional individuals and entities, expanding existing sectoral sanctions and further limiting...more
3/11/2024
/ Asset Freeze ,
Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
New Guidance ,
Russia ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Ukraine
Representatives from the French and U.S. governments, judiciary and private sector discussed early lessons from the 2022 reform of the so-called French “blocking statute” at a Skadden roundtable in Paris on 27 November...more
On January 16, 2023, France’s financial prosecutor, the “Parquet National Financier” (PNF), issued updated guidance (the Guidelines) regarding its approach to offering, negotiating and entering into French deferred...more
2/6/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
CJIP ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
France ,
Guidance Update ,
Public Statements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
On 23 October 2019, the European Parliament and the European Council adopted the Whistleblower Protection Directive (Directive) to set a minimum standard for the protections EU member states must provide to whistleblowers. ...more
The U.K. adopted an autonomous financial sanctions regime when it exited the European Union on December 31, 2020. The U.K. and EU have both stated that they intend to coordinate post-Brexit sanctions policy as much as...more
Le 25 novembre 2020, la Cour de cassation a opéré un revirement de jurisprudence important pour la pratique des affaires, en décidant que la responsabilité pénale d’une société absorbée, de nature à donner lieu à une peine...more
While enforcement agencies have yet to indicate that they intend to put their pens down in response to COVID-19, there is anecdotal evidence that some agencies have slowed their investigations as remote working impacts matter...more
3/31/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Market ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equity Markets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
France ,
Market Abuse ,
Risk Management ,
Social Distancing ,
Tax Evasion ,
UK Bribery Act ,
White Collar Crimes
As widely anticipated, French and U.K. regulators recently published guidance detailing their expectations for corporate cooperation in enforcement investigations. Both sets of guidance demonstrate further alignment of those...more
10/30/2019
/ AFA ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
CJIP ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evidence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
Individual Accountability ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Multinationals ,
New Guidance ,
Remediation ,
Sapin II ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK ,
United States ,
Work-Product Doctrine ,
Yates Memorandum
On November 30, 2017, the Institut des Hautes Etudes sur la Justice (IHEJ) and Skadden hosted a roundtable at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée in Paris to discuss new perspectives on the Sapin II Act and cross-border...more
12/22/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
CJIP ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
Guilty Pleas ,
HSBC ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Sapin II ,
Self-Reporting ,
Settlement
In a move that could signal a new phase of government enforcement in France, on November 27, 2017, French authorities published a Convention judiciaire d’intérêt public (CJIP) with HSBC Private Bank Suisse SA (HSBC PB), the...more
12/8/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Banks ,
Client Data ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
France ,
Guilty Pleas ,
HSBC ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Remediation ,
Sapin II ,
Settlement ,
Solicitation ,
Tax Evasion ,
Theft