Fraud Intelligence

After several years of discussion and consultation, the UK Government has passed the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which presents landmark reform of corporate criminal liability in the UK. White & Case partners Jonah Anderson and Anneka Randhawa and associates Ed Pearson and Mhairi Fraser work through the changes and implications.

AnInterpol police operation targeting online financial crime across 34 countries worldwide has led to 3,500 arrests and saw a total of US$300 million seized - US$199 million in hard currency and US$101 million in virtual assets.

China has stepped up the fight against graft with a new campaign targeting both high-ranking officials and ordinary citizens with President Xi Jinping vowing "there can be no stopping, slacking or compromising on anti-corruption".

If there is one constant theme in counter-fraud discussions, it is the need for parties across sectors and disciplines to collaborate against the ever-growing threat. Ruth Evans, chair of Stop Scams UK, reports on initiatives from a group of 22 banking, technology and telecommunications businesses.

With climate change among the most urgent concerns of our time, pressures on firms to meet regulatory, investor and consumer demands for sustainability are only going to grow. Annabel Reoch and Sophia Devaney of KPMG explore how organisations that make ESG misrepresentations could fall foul of the UK's new 'failure to prevent fraud' offence.

Data is the new gold, or may deliver it, probably in crypto form, if held for ransom and/or sold on the dark web. Tools for hacking systems and stealing information, already widely available, as Keith Nuthall & Andreia Nogueiradiscover, are now set to be turbo-charged by advances in generative AI.

While the basic principle of fraud - obtaining property by deception - holds as true today as ever - one resolution for anti-fraud teams in 2024, say Keith Nuthall & Andreia Nogueira, should be assessing the risks posed by accelerations in technology, notably generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Combined with the general Covid-19-inspired shift towards online living, AI now offers fraudsters new weapons and wider targets for this year and beyond.

Lack of interest in fraud detection and data collection, along with "perverse incentives", have contributed to deplorable and growing levels of social housing fraud in England, according to research. Esther Martin reports.