Law360, London: Plans to reform the UK's fight against dirty money promise to cut red tape and strengthen ties between enforcement bodies, but lawyers say they are not convinced the measures will reduce their compliance burden or fundamentally strengthen the regime.

TMT analysis: The Court of Appeal upheld Mr Justice Nicklin’s award of £10,000 in damages to Countdown presenter Rachel Riley in a libel claim over a tweet posted by a former aide to Jeremy Corbyn alleging that the claimant publicly stated in a tweet that Jeremy Corbyn deserved to be violently attacked. The court agreed with the judge that the defendant misrepresented the claimant’s original tweet and put forward the ‘very worst construction’ that could be put upon the claimant’s words, failing to reflect the ambiguity in the claimant’s original tweet. The defences of truth, honest opinion and publication on a matter of public interest therefore failed. By not setting out the claimant’s original tweet, or describing accurately what it said, she defamed the claimant and left herself with no viable defence. Written by Phil Hartley, senior legal advisor at Schillings International LLP.

PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: Julian Chamberlayne, partner at Stewarts and chairman of the Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors (FOCIS), weighs up the benefits and challenges of a single, dual or multiple personal injury discount rate.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has secured a civil recovery order requiring Twitter hacker Joseph James O’Connor to repay £4.1 million in cryptocurrency obtained through his criminal activities.O’Connor, 26, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the United States in 2023 after pleading guilty to multiple offences, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, stalking and making threatening communications. The offences related to the hacking of Twitter accounts belonging to high-profile figures, including Barack Obama and Jeff Bezos, which were then used to defraud victims of Bitcoin and other crypto assets.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax and the APPG on Fair Business Banking have jointly launched the second Economic Crime Manifesto. The manifesto sets out the progress to date since the first Manifest was published and outlines some of the challenges a new government will have to contend with, including dirty money in the UK and economic crime. The Manifesto also makes recommendations to deal with the challenges it has outlined using four pillars: Transparency, Regulation, Enforcement and Accountability.

Two environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related Commission Delegated Regulations have been published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Law360, Expert analysis: Authorised push payment, or APP, fraud continues to cause significant headaches for consumers and financial institutions alike. In 2023, data published by the payments system regulator revealed that APP fraud amounted to a loss of £341m in the UK. This article by Caroline Greenwell, partner, Bella Henry, associate, and Simon Heatley, knowledge development lawyer, of Charles Russell Speechlys considers two High Court of England and Wales cases decided in June 2024 that have developed the jurisprudence in this area, and the significance of the upcoming mandatory reimbursement rules.

Law360: Two nonprofits focused on the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) field (the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) Foundation and the JAMS Foundation) jointly announced on 18 March 2024 a US$750,000 grant to support efforts to increase diversity among arbitrators and mediators.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Greenwood made compulsory winding-up orders against two companies following petitions by a former director despite (in one case) a dispute being raised as to the petition debt and (in the other case) a possible derivative claim being identified as a cross claim. Written by Phillip Patterson, barrister, Gatehouse Chambers.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has secured convictions against two individuals for a £1.5m fraud. Between February 2017 and June 2019, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga defrauded at least 65 investors out of £1,541,799, cold-calling consumers and directing them to a professional-looking website where they were offered high returns for fake investments in crypto.

When a settlement is created by a deed of variation (to which the provisions of IHTA 1984, s 142 applies) then the settlement is deemed, for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes, to have been created by the will or intestacy of the deceased. Pursuant to IHTA 1984, s 83, property which becomes comprised in a settlement in pursuance of a will or intestacy shall for the purposes of IHTA 1984, Chapter III be taken to have become comprised in the settlement on the death of the testator or intestate. ‘Related’ settlements are settlements made by the same settlor, which commenced on the same day (IHTA 1984, s 62). A settlement ‘commences’ on the date when property first becomes comprised in it. The upshot

An election under section 431 of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) only applies to employment-related securities that are restricted securities or a restricted interest in securities. If, therefore, securities are not restricted securities (or a restricted interest in securities), a section 431 election is not relevant. Where employment-related securities are restricted securities or a restricted interest in securities, a section 431 election must be made by agreement by the employer and the employee: • in a form approved by HMRC, and • within 14 days after the acquisition of restricted securities or a restricted interest in securities As noted in Practice Note: Guidance on making a valid restricted security election (which provides guidance on completing