Introduction

Two recent appellate authorities – AA v BB [2021] 1 WLR 5378 and Aquila Advisory Ltd v Faichney & Ors [2021] UKSC 49 – provide an opportunity to consider the current landscape by which allegations of commercial fraud interact with, on the one hand, the various asset recovery remedies available to prosecuting bodies exercising a criminal jurisdiction, and, on the other hand, the remedies available to a civil litigant.

Whilst criminal proceedings and civil claims arising out of the same allegations of fraudulent conduct undoubtedly serve different functions, it is nonetheless appropriate to consider whether greater cooperation and early interaction between law enforcement agencies and those affected by commercial fraud will be to the ultimate benefit of all parties, including defendants. There is, at present, little effective joint case management between the two types of overlapping proceedings, which risks imposing challenges to prosecuting authorities in performing their functions, and at the same time, severe hardship to defendants when faced with the intrusive requirements of complying with overlapping orders made in two forums.

Click here to read the full piece, produced by Tamara Oppenheimer QC and Simon Paul. 

This piece was originally produced for our Quarterly Commercial Crime Newsletter. If you would like to sign up for this going forward, please contact marketing@fountaincourt.co.uk