Criminal Acts

Question 1

What does the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and ERRA 2013 govern?

Answer 1

Whistleblowing. The protection of whistleblowers. Those who disclose info in the public interest to the apt people.

Question 2

What is a qualifying disclosure?

Answer 2

A disclosure of info which shows an offence is committed. That a person has failed to comply with the law. That there has been a miscarriage of justice. That health and safety has been endangered. That big juicy info has been concealed.

Question 3

How much evidence do you need to whistleblow?

Answer 3

A reasonable belief greater than an unfounded suspicion or rumour.

Question 4

What does disclosing info that is in the public interest mean?

Answer 4

It is undefined but quite self explanatory. But the whistleblower has to genuinely have thought it was better that people knew about this - honest intentions with nothing to gain. Or else damages go down by 25%.

Question 5

Who do you have to whistleblow to?

Answer 5

You start internally and work out depending on the scale but place like the media should be the last resort. Who you go to has to be reasonable given the scale of the info. So the seriousness, timing and confidentiality has to be considered - any contractual clause that aims to limit this is void.

Question 6

What does the legislation protect whistleblowers from?

Answer 6

Direct detriment - obvious punishment e.g being fired. But also indirect e.g being overlooked, not trained properly etc.

Question 7

What must be proved to bring an action for fraud?

Answer 7

Dishonesty and intention to make a gain or cause another loss. Both must be proved by CPS.

Question 8

What are the fraud offences?

Answer 8

Fraud by …. False rep - self explanatory with the aim of gaining/causing loss.
Fraud by …. Failing to disclose info - sometimes you have a legal duty to disclose things so when you don’t that’s fraud.
Fraud by …. abuse of position - not safeguarding someone when your position says you should.

Question 9

What does the computer misuse act cover?

Answer 9

Offences related to accessing computer material - it gives a sliding scale of the punishment you may be liable to depending on how far it went - 12 months to 14 years.

Question 10

What is insider dealing?

Answer 10

Term to cover three offences, governed by Criminal Justice Act 1993. Trading info involving securities which is not widely/commonly available.

Question 11

What are the three offences?

Answer 11

DEALING in the info. ENCOURAGING dealing by others based on info. DISCLOSING insider info.

Question 12

What must the info on the stars etc do for it to fall in to the crime of insider dealing?

Answer 12

Have the power to impact the price of the shares.

Question 13

What counts as inside info?

Answer 13

SPECIFIC info relating to particular securities that is not publicly available and if made public would effect the price.

Question 14

What are the defences for insider trading?

Answer 14

Didn’t believe it would result in a profit. Believed the info had been widely disclosed. Would have acted that way even without the info e.g planned to sell the shares anyway. Believed the other party would not act on it.

Question 15

What is the max punishment for insider trading?

Answer 15

7 years in prison and an unlimited fine, but the actual transaction that constituted as insider dealing remains valid and enforceable. If you are a Director you might have to pay the company back what they lost.

Question 16

What are the three main bribery offences?

Answer 16

Bribing others, being bribed, bribing foreign officials.

Question 17

Does the person you try to bribe have to accept it for it to be criminal?

Answer 17

No. In all cases - likewise if you say you will only do something if you receive a bribe even if the other person does not bite you could still be charged.

Question 18

What are the defences to bribery?

Answer 18

Able to prove it was for the proper exercise of the intelligence services or the military - basically the only two that you can legally do it in.

Question 19

What is the punishment for bribery?

Answer 19

10 years in jail and an unlimited fine.

Question 20

What is the commercial liability in bribery?

Answer 20

The organisation can be sued for preventing bribery. Can defend itself if it proves there were adequate procedures but the offender just got around it.

Question 21

What legislation covers money laundering?

Answer 21

The proceeds of crime act and the money laundering regs.

Question 22

What are the three ways to money launder?

Answer 22

Place - put the money in a legit business. Layer - move the money around a business so it all gets mixed in. Integration - completely reroute where it looks like the money came from.

Question 23

What is the offence of money laundering?

Answer 23

Concealing and disguising criminal property. Any involvement in these arrangements is a crime - facilitating, using, inciting.

Question 24

What is the defence to money laundering?

Answer 24

That a report was made to the NCA or the money laundering officer, that there was no reasonable excuse for reporting but otherwise there would have been.

Question 25

What are the penalties for money laundering?

Answer 25

Unlimited fine and 14 years in jail.

Question 26

What is the offence of failure to report money laundering?

Answer 26

If you know or suspect and don’t report it then that is a crime. Even suspicions must be reported.

Question 27

What are the defences to failure to report money laundering?

Answer 27

Reasonable excuse. Not had the training to have known or suspected - shift blame to employer.

Question 28

What are the penalties for failure to report?

Answer 28

5 years in jail and an unlimited fine.

Question 29

What is the offence of tipping off?

Answer 29

Telling the party doing it that a report has been submitted.

Question 30

What are the defences to tipping off?

Answer 30

You didn’t know or suspect that doing this would prejudice the investigation. You had the lawful authority to disclose that info.

Question 31

What are the penalties for tipping off?

Answer 31

Two years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Question 32

What does the proceeds of tax evasion count as?

Answer 32

Money laundering - you should have paid it in tax so the fact you haven’t means that it is criminal money.

Question 33

What is the one situation where professional privilege to report is outranked by confidentiality when it comes to money laundering?

Answer 33

When you are providing a client with legal advice in respect of litigation. So you disclose it outside of openly disclosing it e.g what could I do to avoid tax is a no, but asking how you could deal with actions taken by hmrc so that you avoid paying tax are protected.

Question 34

What do the money laundering regs do?

Answer 34

Enable the reporting of suspicious transactions and ensure that an audit trail exists when carrying out investigations.

Question 35

What do the MLR’s require of firms?

Answer 35

Risk assessments to analyse likelihood. Policies and controls to mitigate risks. Customer due diligence to find out all necessary info.

Question 36

What does customer due diligence involve?

Answer 36

Finding all the relevant info about not only the client but every single party who could be involved with the client and the nature of the businesses run by all those clients

Question 37

What happens if you do not comply with the MLR?

Answer 37

You could be fined or imprisoned for 2 years.

Question 38

What are the five principles of the CofE?

Answer 38

Integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, professional behaviour.