Grant Thornton asks employees to take 40 per cent pay cut March 31, 2020 Grant Thornton has asked its UK employees to volunteer a 40 per cent reduction in their pay to avoid redundancies. The challenger audit firm has asked its 4500 employees in the UK to take a cut to avoid the need for an alternative package that would involve unpaid leave and layoffs, according to Sky News. [...]
Money mules – doing the launderers’ donkey work March 31, 2020 | Sponsored Money laundering is a huge business. Between 2-5% of global GDP (gross domestic product), or $800 billion – $2 trillion US dollars, is laundered globally in one year.[1] One of the many ways of laundering money is through the use of money mules How does it work? Money mules take part in money laundering activities [...]
The fight against tax crime and money laundering March 31, 2020 | Sponsored There is no such thing as a victimless crime. The devastation financial crime causes is real and often affects some of our country’s poorest and most vulnerable communities. Tax crime costs the UK economy tens of billions of pounds every year. In order to prevent this, HMRC works closely with UK law enforcement agencies and [...]
Simple advice on avoiding financial scams March 31, 2020 | Sponsored With the consequences of a scam often going well beyond pure financial losses, it is essential that every colleague in your business knows how to spot the signs. Businesses have always been highly attractive targets for fraudsters. Why? Money and data – both the company’s and that of their customers and supply chain partners. That [...]
Criminals exploit technology so why can’t law enforcement? March 31, 2020 | Sponsored According to Helena Wood at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the UK has been “sleepwalking” through the growth of economic crime, to a point where it is a systemic national security risk. But there is technology to take the fight to criminals. Fraud accounts for one in three of all allegations of crime and [...]
Criminals arrested in crackdown on courier fraud March 31, 2020 | Sponsored A national police operation targeting criminals who commit courier fraud has resulted in over 40 arrests. Police coordinator for economic crime warns women over 80 are most likely to fall victim. Police forces across the country have been cracking down on criminals who commit courier fraud, with a combination of awareness raising and enforcement activity [...]
Fraudsters will “exploit any weakness” to commit financial crime March 31, 2020 | Sponsored Scammers will use every opportunity to commit insurance fraud, from taking advantage of the panic around COVID-19 to exploiting opportunities presented by digital technologies. In times of crisis, there’s usually an upturn in fraud and financial crime. That’s just a historical fact. It happened in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, and Chris Andrew [...]
Do you know the many forms of money laundering? March 31, 2020 | Sponsored In financial circles there is much discussion around money laundering, but the forms which money laundering can take are very rarely explained. So, what is money laundering? It’s the process of making illegally gained money, often known as dirty money, appear to be legal. Money laundering usually involves three steps; surreptitiously getting the illegitimate money [...]
Law and accountancy firms weigh coronavirus profit distribution delay March 30, 2020 Law and accountancy firms are weighing up delaying partner profit distributions to preserve cash to ride out the coronavirus-triggered economic crash. It is one strategy being considered among the Big Four accountancy firms and major law firms such as Linklaters and Pinsent Masons. US law firm Reed Smith, which has a sizeable London operation, confirmed [...]
One in five residential property sales could be affected by new tax laws this April March 30, 2020 | Sponsored From 6 April 2020, a major change to tax payment dates will come into force. It will apply to landlords, second home owners, divorcing couples – indeed any UK resident who sells or gifts a residential property situated in the UK, on which a capital gains tax (CGT) bill arises. At present, individuals who dispose [...]