Thought Leadership Archives

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.

Thought Leadership
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7 min read

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for higher and further education?

When the UK goes to the polls on July 4th, the Labour party is expected to win the election by a large margin. A labour government would likely mean a significant shift in the UK’s regulatory priorities. What does the Labour party have planned in the area of higher and further education and what does this mean for the higher education sector?

Labour has promised to establish high-quality apprenticeships and specialist technical colleges, as well as implement a modern curriculum so young people are ready for work and life.

In addition, the party has pledged to reform further and higher education. Here are their key promises for skills, training and education:

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for sanctions?

Labour is way ahead in the polls and largely predicted to win the UK’s July 4 general election. What has the Labour party said about sanctions and how might it affect your business?

David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary, set out his party’s plans for Britain’s fight against financial crime at a UK hosted summit to highlight the issue. At the summit, he warned that allies in the US, Ukraine, Africa and the Caribbean have raised concerns about the UK’s approach to corruption and perceived loopholes in its sanctions regime: “Our security partners see us not only failing, but too often enabling Russian kleptocrats to grow stronger.”

Modern Slavery Modern Slavery Act Thought Leadership
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5 min read

The General Election and Compliance: What does a Labour government have planned for combating Modern Slavery?

When UK citizens go to the polls on July 4, Labour is widely expected to win by a landslide, which will mean changes are anticipated in many sectors. What has Labour pledged to do about tackling the issue of modern slavery and supply chains?

What is modern slavery?

Modern slavery is the term used to describe some of the world’s worst forms of exploitation, including human trafficking, domestic servitude, child labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, sexual exploitation and more. It is estimated that as many as 40 million people are now trapped in modern slavery worldwide, more than at the peak of the transatlantic slave trade in the 1800s.

A number of countries have enacted tough legislation to combat modern slavery in the corporate world by increasing transparency in companies’ supply chains.

Modern slavery acts in the UK, EU, US, and other countries around the world require large companies to publicly disclose information about their efforts to eradicate human trafficking and slavery within their supply chains. These statements must include a report of the steps taken during the past financial year to ensure that these human rights violations are not taking place in any part of the business or its trading partners. It is expected that a growing number of countries will adopt similar legislation in the future.

Thought Leadership
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3 min read

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for diversity tracking requirements

When UK citizens go to the polls on July 4, Labour is set to win by a large margin. What are Labour’s plans for public sector equality and diversity tracking requirements?

The Equality Act 2010 includes the public sector equality duty. This requires public bodies, including education institutions, to:

Prioritise the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
Advance equality of opportunity
Foster good relations between people with different traits listed as protected characteristics

As part of Labour’s plans to end pay discrimination at work, Labour pledges to strengthen Equality Impact Assessments for public sector bodies.

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for Tax Evasion?

The UK’s general election has been set for July 4, with Labour predicted to win by a landslide. Labour have promised to crack down on tax evasion.

The tax gap in Britain, i.e., the gap between tax owed and tax paid, stands today at £36bn. Labour believes that the current government has no plan to bring it down and that the deterrent effect of prosecutions and pilates is too weak, with falling numbers of criminal investigations for tax evasion. Also, Labour says that the current government’s plans to digitise the tax system for the modern age are floundering.

The current government only has plans to recover £1bn a year in outstanding tax debt, even though the head of the National Audit Office says that there is £6bn annually that could be recovered if there were a concerted effort on tax compliance.

Diversity and Inclusion Equality and Diversity Thought Leadership
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7 min read

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for the Equality Act?

The Equality Act 2010 works to protect people from discrimination in the workplace (as well as in wider society). The act pushes for a consistency across the business world so that employees and employers all comply with the laws to create fairer workplaces up and down the country. Under the Equality Act, it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of “protected characteristics”.

These are a set of identifying traits that are protected by law and include age, disability, religion, race, sex and sexual orientation among others.

The UK’s general election has been set for July 4, with the polls strongly leaning towards a Labour government. What will the implications of a Labour government be for the Equality Act?

Thought Leadership
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7 min read

The General Election and Compliance: What are Labour’s plans for whistleblowing?

Labour is currently ahead 20% in the polls and expected to win by a massive landslide when the public goes to the polls for the UK General Election called for July 4th. One area where Labour have promised change is in whistleblowing protections. Whistleblowers play a vital role in combating corruption and maintaining security, with high profile whistleblowing cases often grabbing headlines and hopefully inspiring more employees to report bad practices in their own organisations. But the whistleblowing culture in the UK is weak. MPs have called on the civil service to create a ‘speak up’ environment to improve whistleblowing culture after finding a series of weaknesses in Whitehall’s handling of whistleblowing. In a recent report on the subject the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Civil Service suffers from an unsupportive culture when it comes to whistleblowing and called for a cultural change to raise awareness and provide assurance on the process. The problem extends to the private sector as well.

Universities accused of hiding student suicides and suicide attempts behind GDPR : Should safeguarding override data protection laws?

Universities are entrusted with the care and education of their students, but recent events have sparked debates about what to do when the duty of care clashes with data protection. Viv Adams, ICO Parliament and Government Affairs team Principal Policy Adviser, said that under UK law, universities have the legal authority to share personal data in situations where there’s an urgent need to prevent harm: “University staff should do whatever is necessary and proportionate to protect someone’s life. Data protection law allows organisations to share personal data in an urgent or emergency situation, including to help them prevent loss of life or serious physical, emotional or mental harm.” This provision aims to enable institutions to intervene effectively in cases of potential loss of life or serious harm, whether physical, emotional, or mental.

Thought Leadership
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1 min read

On-demand webinar: Compliance and the UK General Election – Special Webinar

The UK is set to go to the polls on Thursday, July 4 in a seismic election which could see a significant shift in the next UK government’s regulatory priorities.

Every sector could be impacted and every area of compliance is likely to be reviewed by the next government. From overhauls of financial services regulation, reviews of data protection law, closer alignment with EU regulations and an expansion of health and safety protections, the next parliament will see compliance at the centre of the regulatory agenda.

With everything from whistleblowing reform to overhauls of corporate governance, new employment rights like menopause leave and expanded equal pay rules, alongside crackdowns on tax evasion and expansion of the money laundering regulations, organisations large and small should prepare for the outcome of the general election.

Our special 1-hour pre-election webinar looked at the likely priorities of the next UK government. Our compliance experts unpicked party manifestos and pre-election promises to help uncover what this election will mean for your organisation.

This webinar covered:

What the main parties are pledging on key compliance areas
Potential changes to legislation including the Equality Act, sexual harassment and employment rights
Expected legislation on AML, bribery, sanctions, fraud and economic crime
Possible expansion of regulations around GDPR, AI and health and safety
Preparing your organisation for future regulatory changes and new requirements

Watch on-demand now