The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) has , published guidance, commissioned by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), on cyber attacks. The guidance urges UK boardrooms to change their attitude if they are to protect themselves against cyber attacks, as security breaches within involving the UK corporate sector continues to rise. http://sites.herbertsmithfreehills.vuturevx.com/38/5033/landing-pages/united-kingdom.asp?intEmailHistoryId=2761774&intExternalSystemId=1 […]

British MP Patrick Mercer  offered a journalist, who was posing as a lobbyist, a parliamentary pass for £2,000. It has been reported that Mercer also appeared to agree to take money in order to produce a parliamentary report. In total Mercer received over £4000, half of which he failed to declare according to the parliamentary rules. […]

The European Union’s sanctions against the Syrian regime has been extended until 1 June 2014. The Sanctions impose EU wide asset freezes and travel bans on 179 persons and 54 entities. Measures supplement existing export and import bans, an oil embargo and restrictions on investments, financial activity and the transport sector. At the same time, the […]

Over recent months, international sanctions and export controls have 
featured heavily in the news; the recent escalation of tension in the Korean peninsula, the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iran’s continued attempts to develop nuclear weapons are all examples of international situations where sanctions or trade controls are in force. Even though these are examples […]

The UK and France have joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which requires countries to fully disclose taxes, royalties and other fees they receive from oil and mining income. Approximately 40 countries have now implemented this voluntary scheme. The EITI aims to tackle corruption and help improve the transparency of revenues from oil, gas and […]

1. Why is ICIJ releasing company data including the names of so many people? a. Several events in recent months, including the Offshore Leaks stories, have transformed the perceptions around tax havens and the secrecy they provide. b. There’s growing consensus among world leaders, particularly in Europe, that basic company information should be public and transparent. In some […]

Readers can search information about the ownership of more than 100,000 offshore entities in tax havens and discover the networks around them. When Bernard Madoff built his $65 billion house of cards; when food distributors passed off horsemeat as beef lasagna in Europe; and when Apple, Google and other American companies set up structures to […]

Botched bribery attempt results in Bribery Act Conviction No. 3 for son of Chinese Foreign Public Official Conviction no.1 Munir Patel was a court clerk and Ministry of Justice employee. Mr Patel was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment (later reduced to four on appeal) in November 2011 for a variety of offences including a bribery […]