Ian Hargreaves

March 2021

In this series of audio updates, our London disputes team of lawyers and invited guests will be exploring key developments and hot topics in English dispute resolution. Email Catherine Karia, at ckaria@cov.com, for further details or contact any member of our London team using the links below. Episode 1: Witness Memory and Evidence (March 2021) In this episode, ...

March 22, 2021, Law360

February 15, 2021, Covington Alert

On 5 February 2021, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in an appeal by KBR, Inc. (KBR) against the High Court’s refusal to quash a document production notice served on it by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Among other grounds, KBR—a U.S.-incorporated company that has UK subsidiaries but does not itself have a place of business or carry on business in ...

February 5, 2021, Global Investigations Review

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in Global Investigations Review regarding the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the Serious Fraud Office cannot force a foreign company to hand over material stored abroad. Mr. Hargreaves says, “It will be interesting to see how the SFO reacts and whether Lisa Osofsky will push for legislative reform. I suspect the SFO would argue that the ...

January 27, 2021, Covington Alert

In her closing remarks at the end of the UK/EU Brexit negotiations, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen quoted T.S. Eliot: “What we call the beginning is often the end / And to make an end is to make a beginning.” Elsewhere in the same poem, Eliot speaks of arriving where we started, yet knowing the place for the first time. Many aspects of the ...

January 21, 2021, Covington Alert

A series of recent high-profile English cases have considered the scope of what is called the Quincecare duty. That duty, owed concurrently in contract and in tort, obligates banks to refrain from executing customers’ orders where they are on inquiry that an order may be an attempt to misappropriate a customer’s funds. This alert discusses an important new ...

January 20, 2021, Covington Alert

Based on the top-line numbers, 2020 was a banner year for U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement. We saw several record-setting fines as U.S.-recovered penalties from corporate resolutions totaled more than $2.75 billion—the highest on record; and a new company entered the all-time U.S. recoveries Top 10 resolutions list. While some commentators ...

January 2021, Chambers & Partners

Winter 2021, Covington Alert

As we noted in a recent client advisory, we have observed an upward trend in recent years in anti-corruption enforcement activity in Africa, including cross-border cooperation between African law enforcement authorities and their counterparts in the U.S. and UK. Looking ahead to 2021 and beyond, we see no reason to expect this trend to reverse. While 2020 did ...

2021, Chambers ‘Anti-Corruption 2021’ Global Practice Guide

November 17, 2020, Vixio

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Vixio about the penalties around anti-money laundering violations. Mr. Hargreaves says, “AML offences generally do not result in custodial sentences. Instead, there is a focus on deterrence.” He argues the four-year maximum sentence for AML offences demonstrates that the EU is looking to ramp up the deterrent effect and the ...

October 26, 2020, Covington Alert

Recent press coverage reports that 2020 has seen a significant drop-off in enforcement activity by the UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) with new enforcement cases against companies down 76 percent and a number of open cases now closed. However, this will likely be a temporary shift only as the FCA pivots to meet the ...

September 4, 2020, Covington Alert

It has been over twenty years since the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention came into force, over a decade since the enactment of the UK Bribery Act, and over three years since the passage of France’s Sapin II law. Alongside those ground-breaking developments have come a host of other measures across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”) region to strengthen ...

August 3, 2020, The Law Society Gazette

Ian Hargreaves spoke with The Law Society Gazette about the increase of internal investigations through the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Hargreaves says “If you want to retain privilege over a document mark it ‘Privileged and Confidential’. It may not ultimately be treated by a court of law as such, but it will help to carve out what the team regard as covered by ...

May 6, 2020, Covington Alert

This article discusses a recent case before the English High Court (AA v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm)) where a claimant successfully obtained an injunction in respect of Bitcoins transferred following a ransomware attack (which were ultimately traced to a wallet held at a crypto currency exchange). The case drew attention to the difficult situations ...

May 1, 2020, Covington Alert

In the coming weeks many of England’s football clubs are likely to vote on whether to suspend or remove the regulatory framework that football authorities in England and Europe have developed over the past decade to prevent the financial mismanagement of clubs and protect the sporting integrity of competition.

April 25, 2020, Law360

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Law360 about an increase in market manipulation cases amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Hargreaves says, “The FCA will be looking very closely at markets and insider dealing to see if there are any trends and fluctuations that are unexplained. We will only see the outcome of that in several months or even several years' time.” He adds, ...

April 17, 2020, Law360

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Law360 about the delay of investigations by UK enforcement agencies due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Mr. Hargreaves, interviews with individuals connected to active FCA investigations “seem to have slowed down significantly” since social distancing and lockdown measures have been introduced. “On one matter we had ...

April 16, 2020, Global Investigations Review

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in Global Investigations Review regarding the high court’s recent dismissal of three unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) obtained by the National Crime Agency. Mr. Hargreaves says the verdict showed that UK courts are not prepared to approve UWOs without scrupulously checking the facts underlying each application. He adds that while the ...

April 16, 2020, Financial Times

Ian Hargreaves spoke with the Financial Times about the risk of fraud when checking the identity of clients in remote locations. Mr. Hargreaves says overall the rush to do business during the pandemic was having a negative effect on independent data verification. “Businesses making snap decisions on very limited data and information is a real problem,” he adds. 

April 9, 2020, Covington Alert

The COVID-19 crisis has led to a sharp rise in fraud and cybercrime in the UK. Although many of the scams we have seen so far have targeted individuals, there is a growing concern that fraudsters are setting their sights on businesses who may now be more vulnerable to fraudulent schemes as a result of the crisis. The UK government’s imposition of stringent ...

April 6, 2020, Covington Alert

Following a meeting of representatives from all English Premier League (EPL) clubs Friday April 3, it was announced that EPL fixtures were postponed indefinitely and would not be returning in May, as stated previously. The EPL announced that the 2019/20 football season would only resume when “it was safe and appropriate” to do so, subject to Government agreement ...

January 30, 2020, Covington Alert

It has been another strong year in anti-corruption enforcement, with 2019 meeting or beating the high-water mark for enforcement across a number of measurements.

December 18, 2019, Law360

August 30, 2019, Law360

August 23, 2019, Covington Alert

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) released its much-anticipated cooperation guidance on August 6, 2019. The five-page document sets out the steps an organization can take to assist the SFO in an investigation and thereby maximise the organization’s chances of avoiding prosecution. The publication represents a welcome change in direction on the part of the SFO, ...

August 22, 2019, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in Law360 regarding the U.K.’s minibond scandal and the regulatory response. Mr. Hargreaves says, “Customers are arguing that they believed the minibonds were FCA-authorized when they were not. Consequently, their impression was that the investments were safer than they actually were.” He adds, “Essentially, the FCA regulates by activity ...

August 8, 2019, Commercial Dispute Resolution

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Commercial Dispute Resolution regarding a recent National Crime Agency’s Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) investigation. Mr. Hargreaves says, “For many years the U.K. has been criticized for allowing too much ‘dirty’ money to pass through its financial systems, reside in expensive residential/commercial properties and be invested through ...

July 31, 2019, Law360

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Law360 about unexplained wealth order enforcement by the NCA, specifically its fourth such case. One reason the NCA may only have used four unexplained wealth orders so far is that they require some work to carry out, according to Mr. Hargreaves. He says, “However, as those utilizing them become more familiar with the process their use ...

July 16, 2019, Law360

March 8, 2019, Law360

Ian Hargreaves spoke with Law360 regarding the European Union’s latest round of anti-money laundering laws. Mr. Hargreaves says, “If the legal framework is observed and enforced, the PSC register will be incredibly powerful. Without verification and proper review, though, people will get around this.”   He adds, “One of the big criticisms with the way in which ...

March 7, 2019, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in Law360 regarding the U.K.’s tightened budget for investigation and prosecution of white collar crime. Mr. Hargreaves says, “The costs start to spiral out of control when you’re dealing with the sheer number of documents involved in highly complex cases. And so, if technology allows these documents to be collected, collated, reviewed ...

Q1 2019, Covington Alert

It was business as usual for FCPA enforcement in 2018. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) collected a total of $1 billion from seventeen corporate defendants, including through their share of two high-value, multi-jurisdictional enforcement actions. DOJ also announced thirteen new FCPA prosecutions ...

Winter 2019, Covington Alert

It was business as usual for FCPA enforcement in 2018. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) collected a total of $1 billion from seventeen corporate defendants, including through their share of two high-value, multi-jurisdictional enforcement actions. DOJ also announced thirteen new FCPA prosecutions ...

February 22, 2019, Law360

2019, Anti-money Laundering Compliance for Law Firms, 2nd edition

July 11, 2018, Law360

June 5, 2018, The Wall Street Journal

Ian Hargreaves is quoted by The Wall Street Journal in an article regarding the appointment of Lisa Osofsky to Director of the UK Serious Fraud Office. Osofsky previously worked as assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Justice Department and as deputy general counsel and ethics officer at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Hargreaves, "[The U.S. ...

May 17, 2018, Global Investigations Review

January 25, 2018, Covington Advisory

Our message this year is simple: FCPA enforcement is here to stay. Despite pre-election statements to the contrary, various senior officials in the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) have, over the past year, consistently reaffirmed DOJ’s and the SEC’s commitment to FCPA enforcement.

November 30, 2017, African Law & Business

Ian Hargreaves participated in a panel discussing the management of compliance against anti-corruption and bribery laws at the African Law & Business Summit and is quoted in an article providing highlights from the event. Commenting on the impact of the "Paradise Papers," Hargreaves reminded the audience that many of the revelations were but allegations, and ...

November 9, 2017, Law360

September 22, 2017, Commercial Dispute Resolution

Ian Hargreaves chaired the fourth panel of CDR's Summer Litigation Symposium and is quoted in a Commercial Dispute Resolution article regarding the complexities of handling investigations and disputes with both criminal and civil law aspects. According to Hargreaves, with the recent implementation of various pieces of legislation, such as the Criminal Finances ...

July 12, 2017, Commercial Dispute Resolution

Ian Hargreaves chaired a session on managing conjoined civil and criminal fraud cases at Commercial Dispute Resolution's Summer Litigation Symposium.

June 9, 2017, The Wall Street Journal

Ian Hargreaves is quoted by The Wall Street Journal in an article regarding the future of the UK's Serious Fraud Office following the general election. "Folding the SFO into the [National Crime Agency] is neither necessary nor good for the prevention of serious fraud and other matters," says Hargreaves. "I would hope this gets pushed into the long grass and [Ms. ...

April 12, 2017, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the UK government’s secretive review into economic crimes. According to Hargreaves, "As with the Proceeds of Crime Act, the UK Bribery Act and several other pieces of legislation, the UK really is leading the charge on introducing (if not enforcing) the toughest global laws on financial crime.”

March 29, 2017, Commercial Dispute Resolution

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in a Commercial Dispute Resolution article regarding the UK Serious Fraud Office’s deferred prosecution agreement with Tesco PLC for false accounting practices. According to Hargreaves, the FCA compensation scheme is of particular interest. “Although we are not privy to the details of the compensation package offered to shareholders and ...

March 29, 2017, The Wall Street Journal

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in The Wall Street Journal’s “Morning Risk Report” regarding the UK Ministry of Justice’s consultation on whether to create new legislation to cover failure to prevent economic crime. According to Hargreaves, “To be required to introduce further systems and controls covering a wide ranging area of economic or financial crime, in addition ...

March 28, 2017, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the UK Serious Fraud Office’s $161 million deferred prosecution agreement with Tesco PLC for skewing the prices of its shares and bonds with false accounting. “The arrangement with the [Financial Conduct Authority] is of particular interest,” says Hargreaves. “Although we are not privy to the details of the ...

March 9, 2017, Law360

February 20, 2017, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the use of deferred prosecution agreements by the Serious Fraud Office to push deeper into enforcement in financial services. According to Hargreaves, financial firms have lived in the era of self-disclosure to the Financial Conduct Authority for so long they fully understand the consequences — and leave ...

February 3, 2017, Global Investigations Review

Ian Hargreaves and David Lorello are quoted in a Global Investigations Review article regarding Hargreaves’ recent arrival to Covington. According to Hargreaves, the firm’s “pre-eminence in dispute resolution, and its immense strength and global recognition as a market-leader in white-collar crime matters and investigations” fueled his decision. Lorello says, ...

January 31, 2017

LONDON—Ian Hargreaves has joined Covington as a partner in the firm’s European Dispute Resolution practice resident in London. Mr. Hargreaves’ arrival follows that of litigation partners Craig Pollack, Greg Lascelles, Elaine Whiteford, and Louise Freeman over the past six months. Mr. Hargreaves advises on major European white collar and related civil and ...

January 24, 2017, Law360

Mark Young and Ian Hargreaves are quoted in a Law360 article regarding the high level of cyberattacks on the financial services industry and the resulting regulatory pressures. According to Young, “The GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] is a massive text with groundbreaking change in the data privacy area, in terms of compliance requirements and the new ...

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in a Commercial Dispute Resolution article regarding plans to build a new 18-courtroom complex to handle significant criminal and civil cases in London. According to Hargreaves, the proposed new complex demonstrates the importance of legal services to the UK economy, which, he says, provides “a not insignificant sum to the country's ...