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17 September 2024
Issue: 8086 / Categories: Legal News , Crypto , Cyber , Cybercrime , Criminal
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Unregistered cryptoasset activity: first criminal prosecution

London resident Olumide Osunkoya has been charged with unlawfully running multiple crypto ATMs, in the Financial Conduct Authority’s first criminal prosecution regarding unregistered cryptoasset activity

These are also the first charges brought against a person accused of running a network of crypto ATMs in the UK. Osunkoya is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 30 September 2024.

However, Nick Barnard, partner, Corker Binning, said that while the case ‘makes for headlines, in reality this is a distraction from the real challenges faced by the FCA in regulating cryptoassets’.

Barnard said that, while the £2.6m allegedly processed by Osunkoya is ‘not insignificant’, it is ‘dwarfed’ by the $226m of transactions handled by a trading platform part of the Coinbase Group, resulting in a £3.5m FCA fine in July.

Issue: 8086 / Categories: Legal News , Crypto , Cyber , Cybercrime , Criminal
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

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
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’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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