Lots to look forward to
13 May 2022

A huge programme of legislation is proposed for those operating in the financial sector. The limited detail we have so far suggests the changes will be very significant.
In the Queens' speech on Tuesday, a new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill was proposed. The Bill will aim to "further strengthen powers to tackle illicit finance, reduce economic crime and help businesses grow".
The Government indicates the main elements of the Bill will include:
Given the number of bills announced in the speech, what the regulated community will want to see is the political will to prioritise corporate crime legislation - which is not always there. We still await the implementation of the much-publicised amendments to Modern Slavery legislation (which will give the state powers to punish companies for non-compliance), legislation revisiting how corporate criminal liability is incurred, and the proposed criminal offence of 'failure to prevent economic crime' which would broaden the current criminal law beyond bribery and tax evasion facilitation. Financial crime prevention will not be well-served by these proposals joining the scrap heap.
The speech also referenced a new Financial Services and Markets Bill to strengthen the UK financial services industry. The Government explains that the main elements of the Bill include:
We await the detailed proposals but this promises radical reform diverging away from existing EU regulation such as elements of MiFID II.
The United Kingdom’s data protection regime will also be reformed by a new Data Reform Bill. The Government explains that the main elements of the Bill are:
The Government also commented that the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 are highly complex and prescriptive pieces of legislation, "encouraging excessive paperwork, and creates burdens on businesses with little benefit to citizens." Because the UK has left the EU, there is now have the opportunity to reform the data protection framework "to reduce burdens on businesses as well as provide clarity to researchers on how best to use personal data."
We think many would agree with these sentiments and would welcome reform in this area.
Authors: David Capps, Ruby Hamid
The information provided is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects of those referred to.
Readers should take legal advice before applying it to specific issues or transactions.