London’s largest law firm DLA Piper closes Russian offices March 15, 2022 The City of London’s biggest law firm by revenue, DLA Piper, is set to close its Moscow and St Petersburg offices, as law firms from across the globe continue to pile out of Russia. In a statement, DLA Piper said it will transfer its Russian business to the UK, in line with the “legal and [...]
Russian judge rolls back Peppa Pig copyright in retaliation against Western sanctions March 15, 2022 Peppa Pig has been dragged into the conflict between Russia and the West, after a Russian judge said Russians are free to use the children’s cartoon character in retaliation against Western sanctions. A judge in the Russian city of Kirov said Russian businesses are free to copy Peppa Pig and create their own versions of [...]
Raab vows to boost legal aid with extra investment of £135m a year March 15, 2022 The UK government has agreed to invest an extra £135m a year into criminal legal aid, in line with recommendations made by the Bellamy report, which said £135m is the minimum investment needed to ensure the UK’s criminal legal aid system continues to function effectively. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it [...]
One step closer to US extradition: Supreme Court denies WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange appeal March 14, 2022 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been denied permission to appeal against the High Court’s decision to extradite him to the United States at the Supreme Court.
UK underwriting vacancies hit record highs in 2021 as insurers sought to revisit policies March 14, 2022 The number of vacancies for underwriting positions hit all-time highs in 2021, following a surge in hiring last year, as insurers sought to protect themselves against the potential for ruinous “black swan” events in the wake of the global pandemic. All in all, a record 2,100 underwriting vacancies were advertised last year, according to new [...]
Leading Rabbi arrested amid probe into Roman Abramovich’s Portuguese citizenship March 12, 2022 Portuguese authorities have arrested a leading Rabbi and banned him from leaving the country, amid an investigation into the decision to give sanctioned Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, Portuguese citizenship, based on his supposed links to the country’s Jewish community. Police arrested Porto Rabbi Daniel Litvak in Portugal’s second largest city, amid claims he issued the [...]
Seizing companies’ assets would take Russia back to Bolshevik revolution, Putin ally says March 12, 2022 Russian mining billionaire Vladimir Potanin has warned Putin against seizing control of assets owned by the foreign firms that have exited Russia, after arguing that doing so would drag Russia back to the time of the Bolshevik revolution. Multi-billionaire mining magnate Potanin, who in 2018 appeared on the US Treasury’s list of 210 individuals with [...]
US law firm Squire Patton Boggs drops Russia’s Gazprombank as client March 12, 2022 US law firm Squire Patton Boggs has dropped Russia’s Gazprombank as a client, after closing its Moscow offices. Squire Patton Boggs’ decision to exit its relationship with Russia’s third largest bank comes after the US law firm was hired by Gazprombank in 2014 to lobby against US sanctions, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Gazprombank’s relationship [...]
Russia to block Instagram on Monday after branding Meta an ‘extremist organisation’ March 12, 2022 The Kremlin has told Russian Instagram users they have until the end of the weekend to transfer any photos or videos they have saved on the social platform, onto their own computers, after confirming Instagram will be “definitively blocked” from midnight on Monday. The comments come after Russia’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it will be [...]
US vows to target crypto exchanges that allow sanctioned oligarchs to use their services March 12, 2022 The US has said it plans to target cryptocurrency exchanges that help sanctioned oligarchs move dirty money. The US Department of Justice’s (DoJ’s) KleptoCapture taskforce, which was set up this month to enforce sanctions on Russian oligarchs, is set to prosecute banks and cryptocurrency exchanges that fail to prevent sanctioned individuals from using their services. [...]