- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Neil Hodge2024-08-19T14:32:00
Companies will need to tighten up how they monitor their supply chains after a recent U.K. ruling determined that corporates could be open to money laundering charges if they fail to act in cases where they believe there is a risk of forced labor.
In a legal challenge brought by the Global Legal Action Network and the World Uyghur Congress, the U.K.’s Court of Appeal ruled that companies can be prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) if they know—or suspect—to have imported goods made in criminal circumstances elsewhere in the supply chain, like forced Uyghur labor in China.
Lawyers said this is the first time that a U.K. court has decided that ordinary commercial trade could amount to a money laundering offense if there is criminality in the supply chain.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
USAA Federal Savings Bank has been hit with its third cease and desist order from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the past five years for failing to correct unsafe and unsound banking practices.
NewMarket Corporation announced that Bryce Jewett III has been elected executive vice president and general counsel, effective Jan. 1.
When lawmakers slam the U.K.’s chief financial regulator as “incompetent,” it not only opens the doors for others to pile criticism on it, but it sparks a debate about how the organization can be improved–or removed.
The U.S. Department of Commerce unveiled a diagnostic supply chain risk assessment tool, which will “utilize a comprehensive set of indicators to assess structural supply chain risk across the U.S. economy,” the agency said.
A U.S. Senate report found three European automakers—Volkswagen, BMW, and Jaguar Land Rover—sold cars in the United States with parts sourced from a supplier suspected of using forced labor from China’s Xinjiang region.
It’s been nearly two years since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act took effect, and as enforcement statistics and recent reports demonstrate, many businesses are still not adequately vetting their supply chains.
