Law Commission proposals put heat on U.K. execs – Tom McNeill quoted in Compliance Week

Law Commission proposals put heat on U.K. execs – Tom McNeill quoted in Compliance Week

BCL senior associate Tom McNeill has been quoted in Compliance Week’s article discussing the Law Commission’s options paper on corporate criminal liability.

Here is a short extract from the article*. If you wish to read the full article, please visit Compliance Week website.

The United Kingdom might make it easier for executives and senior managers to be held directly accountable for corporate crimes, including fraud and human rights abuses, under proposals put forward by the body that reviews U.K. law.

In November 2020, the U.K. government asked the Law Commission to review how to reform corporate crime laws to make it easier to prosecute companies and senior officers. The impetus was the failure in 2019 to secure fraud convictions against retailer Tesco’s former executives even after the company admitted overstating its profits as part of a deal to secure a deferred prosecution agreement with the Serious Fraud Office.

…Tom McNeill, senior associate in the business crime practice at law firm BCL Solicitors, said the proposal to widen potential prosecution from the “controlling mind” to senior management represents a “significant shift” in terms of holding corporates to account for individual wrongdoing.

But he added there are legitimate concerns over “whether it is right to make companies criminally liable for the actions of individuals, especially via a failure to prevent offense, where even conscientious organizations that have taken significant measures to prevent fraud and/or other economic crimes will find it difficult to defend themselves.”

*This article was first published by Compliance Week on 22 June 2022. If you wish to read the full article, please visit Compliance Week website.

Please note that you will need a subscription with Compliance Week to access the article.

 

 

Tom McNeill is a senior associate at BCL Solicitors, specialising in corporate crime, financial crime and regulatory enforcement. His expertise includes internal investigations, corporate and director liability, corporate manslaughter, health and safety, fire safety, environmental protection, trading standards, and Coroners’ inquests, as well as all types of fraud, bribery and money laundering. He has conducted privilege-protected internal investigations on behalf of a range of corporate clients following fatal accidents and other serious regulatory breaches, and in relation to suspected financial crime.

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