SFO drops probe into how it handled ENRC investigation June 16, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office is dropping an inquiry into its handling of an investigation into former London-listed miner ENRC. Sir David Calvert-Smith has been asked to abandon his work after being appointed to head the independent inquiry last year, the Sunday Times reported. The SFO dropped the inquiry after ENRC decided to sue it for [...]
Fraud squad boss will favour firms who keep hold of incriminating evidence April 3, 2019 Companies should be prepared to keep hold of evidence of fraud and corruption in their ranks if they want to co-operate with the authorities, the boss of the UK fraud office has said. Lisa Osofsky, the recently appointed director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said companies not only needed to be "brave enough" to [...]
Euribor rate-rigging trial delivers the fraud office a much-needed win April 1, 2019 The convictions of two former Barclays bankers in the Serious Fraud Office’s long and protracted probe into Euribor manipulation will inject a new sense of purpose into an agency weary from a string of defeats and climbdowns. Today Carlo Palombo and Colin Bermingham were sentenced to a combined nine years in prison for their role in [...]
Miner Churchill faces administration after losing court battle with Indonesia March 31, 2019 A London-listed miner looks set to enter administration after it lost a battle with the Indonesian government. Churchill Mining has told a court that it intends to appoint administrators, with RSM ready to step in, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: London obvious choice for float says boss of Kazakh miner The firm had been [...]
Mining giant ENRC sues UK fraud office for £70m over long-running corruption investigation March 26, 2019 Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing the UK's fraud agency for £70m over its conduct during a long-running probe into alleged corruption at the Kazakh miner. ENRC, which was delisted from the FTSE in 2013, has accused the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of “arbitrary, oppressive and unconstitutional conduct” in relation to its investigation into [...]
Nick Clegg hits back after miner ENRC tried to pull him into legal battle March 24, 2019 Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has hit back at allegations he requested information on a company which later became a client of his wife’s law firm. Lawyers for Clegg, who led the Liberal Democrats during the last coalition government, said the allegations from miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were not backed up by facts, [...]
Miner ENRC victorious over Serious Fraud Office in ‘historic’ Court of Appeal battle on legal privilege September 5, 2018 Lawyers hailed ENRC’s Court of Appeal win over the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in a legal privilege case today as “fundamental to our legal system”. In today’s judgment the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision from May that compelled miner ENRC to hand over the results of an internal investigation into corruption, carried out by [...]
The big winners from an Aramco listing will be the bankers March 13, 2018 Britain’s bankers and City advisors are very excited about the mooted flotation of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco. The potential fees – and therefore bonuses – generated are likely to be astonishing. It will be trebles all round, as they say in Private Eye. However, as an investment proposition there may be less to [...]
What Theresa May as Prime Minister means for the future of the fraud squad July 13, 2016 Monday saw the pound spike and the FTSE 100 creep back into bull territory following Andrea Leadsom’s exit from the Conservative party leadership race. It was clear that bookies’ favourite Theresa May’s campaign to frame herself as the candidate for stability in the post-referendum chaos had resonated deeply with markets. Yet while those in the [...]
Canaccord departs Quindell: When a listed company’s broker quits, it usually means bad news November 17, 2014 Brokers to stock-market listed companies tend to stick around for the long-term, so when they exit abruptly there is usually a good reason for it. Canaccord’s departure from Quindell appears to have taken the market by surprise, but its decision to go follows a controversy over share-dealing by the directors. In May 2008, less than [...]