- 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.
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New York-based investment firm Drexel Hamilton will pay more than $1.1 million in penalties, with four current and former employees paying fines as well over committing hundreds of violations of rules regarding the sale of municipal bonds.
Companies spend huge sums on audit, risk management, and compliance to alert them about potential legal issues before they escalate into serious corporate governance failings. There’s only one problem, however–they often misread their own early warning signs or ignore them altogether.
A subsidiary of MetLife will pay more than $178,000 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran when it provided insurance policies to entities in the United Arab Emirates owned or controlled by Iran.
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