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18 April 2025 / Kerry Garcia , James Evison
Issue: 8113 / Categories: Features , Compliance , Regulatory , Fraud , Harassment , Employment , Company
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Staying afloat on the rising regulatory tide

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Failure to prevent fraud, sexual harassment & more: Kerry Garcia & James Evison unpack the increasing number of compliance measures facing UK businesses this year
  • The new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ duty coming into force in September 2025 as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, and the duty to prevent sexual harassment proposed in the Employment Rights Bill.
  • Practical steps employers can take to prepare for the introduction of these duties.
  • How the government is approaching this major shift in corporate governance, and how businesses have the potential to adopt a competitive advantage by being ahead of the legislation.

As 2025 progresses, UK businesses are facing an increasingly demanding regulatory landscape. The introduction of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) and its ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, and the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 and corresponding employer duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, signify a major shift

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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