Mr Baldwin was sentenced in his absence after he absconded from justice during his trial for money laundering in July 2017. The sentence also includes punishment for separate contempts of court that he admitted in November 2015 for breaching a Restraint Order made in June 2011. The Restraint Order prevented Mr Baldwin from in any way disposing of, dealing with or diminishing the value of any of his assets within or outside of England & Wales.

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Sara Lawson QC, General Counsel of the Serious Fraud Office, speaking at the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime 2019. She startes here speech as follows: “I am delighted to be here, for the first time, speaking on behalf of the Serious Fraud Office. You have heard from our Director about what we have been doing; building on the work of Sir David and his team who, amongst other things, pioneered the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements and, importantly, made the case for the survival of the SFO so eloquently, not only in words but in deeds. That is to say, by taking on the formidable cases which could only be pursued with the tools and the structure of the SFO.”

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In 1787, during the debates on adopting the US Constitution, James Madison stated that “[t]he circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money”. It’s telling that Madison chose to use public trust in money as the yardstick for trust in public institutions – money and trust are as inextricably intertwined as money and the state. Money is an “indispensable social convention” that can only work if the public trusts in its stability and acceptability and, no less importantly, if the public has confidence in the resolve of its issuing authorities to stand behind it, in bad times as well as in good.

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The European Court of Auditors (ECA) and the European Central Bank (ECB) have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that establishes practical information-sharing arrangements between the two institutions. These arrangements will allow the ECA to seek and obtain all the documents and information that it needs to audit ECB Banking Supervision. Highly confidential documentation will be fully protected, and access to sensitive bank-specific information will be granted in a controlled environment on-site at the ECB.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Pennsylvania investment adviser with operating an investment advisory fraud involving over $100 million in investments. The SEC also obtained an emergency asset freeze. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Brenda Smith, and her fund Broad Reach Capital, LP, raised approximately $105 million from approximately 40 investors by representing that she would invest their money in publicly traded securities through various trading strategies that she championed as providing consistent high returns.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) published the findings of its analysis on the regulatory framework applicable to FinTech firms when accessing the market. The Report illustrates the developments on the regulatory perimeter across the EU, the regulatory status of FinTech firms, and the approaches followed by competent authorities when granting authorisation for banking and payment services.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets’ regulator, has published a statement addressed to providers marketing, distributing or selling contracts for differences (CFDs) to retail clients. The statement is in response to various practices and situations observed in the market, which raise concerns of non-compliance with the legal requirements applicable when providing services to retail clients.

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Most organisations still falling short of requirements. The (UK) government is determined to toughen its approach to modern slavery following a review of the 2015 Modern Slavery Act, according to Alexandros Paraskevas a professor of strategic risk management at the University of West London. Speaking to Airmic News shortly before the results of the review are due to published, he said businesses “should expect stricter regulation, with sanctions for non-compliance and greater obligations on businesses to mitigate the risks.”
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is seeking feedback from stakeholders as part of its evaluation of the effects of the too-big-to-fail (TBTF) reforms for banks that were agreed by the G20 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The evaluation, which is being carried out by a working group chaired by Claudia Buch (Vice-President of the Deutsche Bundesbank), will assess whether the implemented reforms are reducing the systemic and moral hazard risks associated with systemically important banks (SIBs). It will also examine the broader effects of the reforms to address TBTF for SIBs on the overall functioning of the financial system. More details on the evaluation can be found in the summary terms of reference.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a discussion paper on Intergenerational Differences, exploring the changing financial needs of consumers from different age groups. The way people build and use wealth is evolving – having an impact on their financial needs. With one of the FCA’s statutory objectives being to protect consumers, it is important that the FCA approach adapts to the changing needs of the different groups within and between generations.
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