VinciWorks

Join the VinciWorks Menopause Forum

Sharing ideas for making our organisations more menopause friendly

Many organisations talk about gender equality and promoting women, particularly older and more experienced women. But what does this look like in practice? What are the practical steps to supporting women in the workplace and how can barriers to success be overcome?

One highly effective strategy is making your organisation menopause friendly. Menopausal women are one of the fastest growing in today’s workplace, and research has shown that nearly two-thirds of women have taken time off work due to their symptoms, with some even leaving their jobs due to not being supported in their workplace.

Release notes: Enhancements to several key features for Astute V3.2.1

VinciWorks is proud to announce the release of Astute LXP Version 3.2.1! This release bring several important enhancements to existing features and performance improvements.

Enhancements

1. Admin view of Learner information

The activate/deactivate, edit and certificate buttons have been redesigned for usability.

Compliance
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5 min read

The King’s Speech and Compliance: What do businesses need to know about Labour’s legislative agenda?

Sir Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech outlined Labour’s most ambitious legislative agenda since 1997 and includes a long list of policy and legislative changes that compliance teams should get ready for. Chiefly among these is the New Deal for Working People, which Labour have pledged to introduce in their first 100 days.

This far-reaching employment rights bill is set to introduce day one rights for all workers, implement work-life balance rules, increase and strengthen statutory sick pay and remove the waiting limit and lower earnings threshold, move towards a single status for workers and employees, and crack down on the gig economy. Along with banning zero-hours contracts, cracking down on ‘fire and re-hire,’ and an expected new single regulator to protect working conditions, this new legislation will keep HR teams busy.

VinciWorks guide to high risk jurisdictions for money laundering

Last updated: July 2024

The FATF and European Union continually review jurisdictions and identifies those which have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes. These are known as the FATF Grey List and high risk jurisdictions under the European Union.

Countries are added to the lists several times throughout the year. There are some jurisdictions which are on the EU list but not on the FATF list and vice versa. The UK has its own list under Section 49 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act, however the UK’s high risk jurisdictions point to the FATF grey list.

VinciWorks guide to ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting

Free download on new pay gap reporting requirements set to be introduced by the Labour government

The Labour government have pledged to close not just the gender pay gap, but the disability and ethnicity pay gap too. Legislation to require organisations to report on their ethnicity and disability pay gap is set to be announced in the King’s Speech.

Under the party’s plans a new Race Equality Act and amendments to the Equality Act would enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for black, Asian and ethnic minority people, as well as disabled people.

ESG
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5 min read

UK moves forward on deforestation compliance as the EU takes as step back

The saying goes that elections have consequences, and that’s particularly true for deforestation compliance. The European Parliament elections held at the start of June and the UK general election on 4 July have delivered a reversal of fortunes when it comes to a critical part of ESG – deforestation compliance and reporting.

Over 45 leading law firms joining VinciWorks latest AML Core Group meeting

VinciWorks was proud to host over 45 of the UK’s leading international law firms at our recent AML Core Group meeting. VinciWorks Business Development Director Tom Evans and Compliance Office Managing Director Andy Donovan shared best practice in the field of AML, and encouraged a dialogue between firms on how to best manage AML risk.

SRA announces new requirements for firms

Regulated firms will have to provide AML and sanctions data

UK regulated firms, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is about to contact you with a new requirement for more of your money laundering and sanctions data.

What information are they looking for? Regulated firms will be asked provide information on:

work they carry out within scope of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017
any contact or involvement they have with the sanctions regime and any persons who are designated under it
submission of suspicious activity reports to the National Crime Agency

Firms not involved with one or more of these regimes are still required to submit a nil return.

Take note: The window for responses opens in early August and closes in mid September.

Why are they collecting this data?

The SRA is required by its regulator, the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision to take a risk-based approach to supervision. It states that to supervise the legal sector effectively, it needs to have accurate data to see the distribution of risk across the legal profession. This in turn informs its programme of inspections and its guidance.

The SRA further states that collecting this information enables it to determine where the risks lie and how it can better allocate resources. Most importantly, the SRA notes, data needs to be up to date and relevant so its approach can evolve and adapt.

Significantly, the SRA adds that if it decides to publish this data, it will make sure that no one can be identified from what it publishes or shares.

Register now for our AML webinar – 31 July 2024

Join us in this free, one-hour webinar where we provide critical information on AML legislation, the many ways in which law firms can get caught up in money laundering and the implications if a firm doesn’t have effective AML workflows in place. Significantly, we will guide firms in how to implement best practice AML workflows to manage their money laundering risks so they can develop an effective AML programme and mitigate their risks of being exposed to financial crime. We’ll also discuss new SRA requirements on collecting AML data.

Compliance
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2 min read

Labour’s regulatory agenda for compliance: free guide download

Labour’s plan for government will affect dozens of areas of compliance, from whistleblowing to employment rights, money laundering and fraud to menopause and the Equality Act.

Labour’s manifesto commitments and previously announced policies will define the regulatory agenda for this parliament. A mixture of primary legislation, secondary legislation and policy shifts at the regulatory level will see UK organisations affected across every department, from HR to marketing, senior management and back office staff.

Anti-Money Laundering Money Laundering News Thought Leadership
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9 min read

AML regulations could soon expand to previously unregulated sectors, including universities. How should your organisation prepare?

With its 20-point lead in opinion polls, Labour seems poised to win in the UK’s upcoming July 4th election. If indeed Labour form the next government, economic crime in general and anti-money laundering in particular are likely to form the backbone of initial legislation given the unending criticism of the UK’s role in the ‘global laundromat,’ which London was called by shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, though even the former Conservative justice secretary criticised the last government for not introducing this failure to prevent money laundering offence and for watering down the failure to prevent fraud offence.