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27 October 2020 / Simon Farrell KC , Joe Edwards
Issue: 7908 / Categories: Features , Covid-19 , Commercial , Fraud
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When the tide goes out: Fraud & corporate wrongdoing in the wake of a predicted economic crisis

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Simon Farrell QC & Joe Edwards discuss fraud & corporate wrongdoing in the wake of a predicted economic crisis

In brief

  • Debt bubbles.
  • A wave of both civil and criminal litigation.
  • Statutory powers and cans of litigious worms.

As Warren Buffet once famously said ‘you only discover who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out’. This was a reference to those exposed in the face of an economic crash. The phrase has often also been used more precisely to refer to those caught out and brought to book either in the criminal and/or the civil courts after a severe economic downturn.

World debt levels have risen inexorably since the 2008 crisis and rose across all sectors by over $10trn in 2019 to $255trn. This was before the COVID crisis. Global debt now stands at 322% of global GDP and is $87trn higher than at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers to be joined by leading family law set, 4 Brick Court, this summer

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Real estate and construction energy offering boosted by partner hire

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Firm bolsters real estate team with partner hire in Birmingham

NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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