Contributions
487 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Quite. We know that most accountants are brilliant people who make sure we do not make mistakes when we fill in our tax return and all that sort of stuff. However, we know from…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q I had them, but unfortunately I have lost them. I think it is about 10 or 15.27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Can I ask something wicked? Can the witnesses provide written answers to my questions?27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q It is the beneficial ownership that is revealed to Companies House, not necessarily even all the directors, as I understand it. The way you are talking, you obviously deal with…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Do you know how company service providers are regulated and supervised? Peter Swabey: No, it is not something that our members—27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Under privilege, Liam Byrne, David Davies, Bob Seely and a whole range of us have raised issues of kleptocracy not just in Russia but in other jurisdictions such as Azerbaijan…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Are you also talking to the Treasury about keeping some of the fines that you manage to secure in the cases that you take? Adrian Searle: I assume that is a reference to the…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Does that go through all the agencies—the NCA, the SFO and HMRC? If they have a successful litigation, can they keep 50% of the fine they secure? Adrian Searle: It is certainly…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)It would be really helpful to have that.25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)I will read out the two figures. The number of crimes under investigation has halved in the past three years, and convictions for fraud offences, according to national crime…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Michelle Crotty, what would you feel about the introduction of an offence of failure to prevent economic crime? Michelle Crotty: We are very strongly on the record as saying…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Do the other two witnesses agree? Commander Adams: Yes. Ultimately, as Michelle said, I do not think that the imposition on business would be that significant. There are lots of…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q The other brake on pursuing the bad people is the fear of failure, and therefore the burden of costs on the public purse. Would you like to see the cost capping that has been…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)I think in a murder case they would, actually. Bill Browder: Would they?25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Indeed, it can sometimes lead to terrorism as well as other crimes. May I ask one short question of you all, and then a longer one? We have talked about the importance of…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Good. Thank you for that. I recognise that you have all made an incredibly important contribution to the debate, so thank you for that, and for the support that you have given…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q You talked about civil cases, Bill, and I think we should publicly recognise the contribution that Bill Browder and Oliver have made in this space—it is brilliant. You talked…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q So you would do it for both civil and criminal cases. Bill Browder: I was not even aware that in a criminal case, a murder case, nobody pays adverse costs. I am not sure if you…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q I would say, Oliver, that we need both. It is not an either/or, and if we can amend the Bill with even more powers, we can hopefully get even closer to that. I want to deal with…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q I think we all share the frustration that there are existing powers, and hopefully a few new ones, and they are just not implemented. We have discussed whether that is because…25 Oct 2022