The SFO’s message for 2026: Evidence beats box-ticking
If 2025 was the year the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) refreshed its expectations of corporate behaviour, 2026 is when organisations will be judged against them. On 26 November 2025, the SFO published refreshed guidance on how it evaluates corporate compliance programmes. The headline is simple: having policies and controls does not automatically mean your programme […]
UK regulatory outlook for financial crime compliance January 2026: SFO issues new bribery red flags and raises the bar on corporate cooperation
As 2026 begins, the UK is sharpening its focus on bribery, fraud and anti-money laundering (AML). The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has released new guidance for businesses on identifying foreign bribery indicators, along with updated guidance on corporate cooperation. In addition, the government has published its UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025, outlining its approach to tackling […]
CEO sentenced to eight years in prison for international bribery and money laundering scheme
A US federal court sentenced Carl Alan Zaglin, owner and chief executive officer of Georgia‑based manufacturer Atlanco LLC, to eight years in prison for his central role in a complex international bribery and money laundering scheme. The sentencing took place on 2 December 2025, following a high‑profile trial in Miami that exposed unlawful conduct spanning […]
New Zealand’s Crimes Amendment Bill is a major step in the fight against modern slavery
New Zealand (Aotearoa) is making significant strides in addressing modern slavery and human trafficking with the introduction of the Crimes Amendment Bill. Introduced in early December 2025, the bill promises to close some of the major gaps in New Zealand’s existing slavery and trafficking offences in the Crimes Act. This update comes at a critical […]
EUDR delayed again: what changed, what is now fixed, and what businesses should do in 2026
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was meant to become operational at the end of 2024, then it was pushed to the end of 2025. Over the Christmas period, the EU agreed a second delay and a set of targeted changes that shift who files what, and when. The regulation is a major supply chain compliance […]
Failure to Prevent Fraud: just over four months on, are businesses really ready?
On 1 September 2025, the UK’s new corporate offence of Failure to Prevent Fraud came into force under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). It is a deceptively simple change with a very non-simple impact. In broad terms, a large organisation can be criminally liable if a person associated with it […]
OFAC’s $4.7m real estate penalty is a sanctions case study in plain sight
On 24 November 2025, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed a $4,677,552 civil penalty on an individual for willfully dealing in blocked real property linked to a Russia sanctions designation, and for failing to comply with an OFAC subpoena. This is OFAC’s largest publicly announced penalty against an individual to […]
Millicom’s TIGO Guatemala resolution: $118m paid to close US foreign bribery investigation
Millicom International Cellular, the Luxembourg-incorporated telecoms group behind the Tigo brand in Latin America, has agreed a two-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve a long-running foreign bribery investigation tied to its Guatemalan business. The matter was resolved through its Guatemalan subsidiary, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (doing business as […]
The shadow fleet that would not die: how OFAC finally caught up with the “Kunlun legacy” network
There is a temptation to treat the “shadow fleet” as something new. It is often discussed as a Russia-era phenomenon, but the same methods have long been associated with Iran and Venezuela too. In reality, it is often the same playbook, reused for years, with different company names, different flags, and a slightly different corporate […]