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7 May 2020
Disputes Quick Read – 75 of 99 Insights
Disputes Quick Read: The latest on Unexplained Wealth Orders
- QUICK READ
When Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) were introduced, legal commentators pondered whether the legislation was another idle threat to bolster the government's announcements that we must clamp down on businesses using off shore accounts and overseas investment funds purchasing UK property portfolios in an attempt to avoiding paying tax.
In reality, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has primarily targeted wealthy families.
Once made the subject of an order, an individual is required by the authorities to provide a detailed account of how they came to own an asset, shifting the burden of proof away from authorities. In short, individuals are required to prove the legitimacy of their assets or risk forfeiting them.
To obtain an UWO, the enforcement agency must establish that there is property worth in excess of £50,000 (or a number of properties to that cumulative value) owned by an individual who is either politically exposed, suspected of having committed a serious crime or is someone "connected" to a person suspected of such – a very low bar indeed.
Zamira Hajiyeva, "the woman who spent £16m at Harrods", was the first subject of a UWO. This order was challenged but ultimately upheld by the High Court, representing an early victory for the NCA. Buoyed by the win, the NCA then set their sights on Kazakh Nurali Aliyev and his mother Dariga Nazarbayeva, High Net Worth political individuals based in Kazakhstan.
Having obtained the UWOs, the NCA's success was short lived as, on 8 April 2020, the High Court handed down a damming judgment stating the NCA had proceeded on "unreliable evidence". The key principle of the ruling was that the use of off-shore structures, while demonstrative, is not conclusive evidence of criminal property.
While this gives private client lawyers and their clients a bit of breathing space, we doubt the NCA will be discouraged by the ruling. It will, however, require the NCA to think twice before chasing the low hanging fruit by simply targeting any offshore structure. As for lawyers, we must continue to scrutinise and challenge "evidence" the NCA presents against our clients.
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Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 – now in force
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Disputes Quick Read: ClientEarth v Shell – climate change litigation shifts focus to UK companies
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Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Bill – unpacking the UK government's proposed amendments
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Disputes Quick Read: Will litigants be compelled to participate in alternative dispute resolution?
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Disputes Quick Read: Freezing injunctions – maximum custodial sentence imposed for breach
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Disputes Quick Read: One Blackfriars administrators cleared of misfeasance
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Disputes Quick Read: Not your prerogative – the Independent Review of Administrative Law reports its recommendations on judicial review
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Disputes Quick Read: Amendments to the Disclosure Pilot Scheme – a step in the right direction
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Disputes Quick Read: UK Supreme Court rules on the territorial extent of the SFO's powers
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Disputes Quick Read: No dropping anchor – parent company liability for environmental claims
24 February 2021
Disputes Quick Read: What lawyers need to know about new witness statement preparation rules
20 January 2021
Disputes Quick Read: Should you still choose the English courts to have jurisdiction in your international contracts after Brexit?
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Disputes Quick Read: Privilege lost in the EU post-Brexit (with exceptions)
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Disputes Quick Read: Law on interest applicable to US dollar awards reaffirmed
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Disputes Quick Read: Why the modernised LCIA rules are a welcome update
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Disputes Quick Read: COVID-19 and supply chain disruption – key issues
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Disputes Quick Read: High Court orders parties to explore options for 5-week remote trial
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Disputes Quick Read: Tomlin Orders – ensuring the confidentiality of settlement terms
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Disputes Quick Read: UK's OFSI fines Standard Chartered Bank £20 million for sanctions breaches
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Disputes quick read: climate change activism by litigation
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Disputes Quick Read: Commercial Court's arbitral power shift
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Disputes Quick Read: Retailers reign supreme in Visa and Mastercard proceedings
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Disputes Quick Read: Scope of duty and the SAAMCo counterfactual following Manchester Building Society
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Disputes Quick Read: Facilitating transactions in cryptoassets - Lord Leggatt and the point of commercial law
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Disputes Quick Read: Privy Council clarifies the law on freezing injunctions in aid of foreign proceedings
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