Category: Uncategorized

On Wednesday 1st of July at 6pm Mina Heung, Harriet Ho and Jackson Ng, international barristers at Whitestone Chambers, will be joining Robert Pidgeon, Head of Legal Operations at Whitestone Chambers and mediator of this panel, to host an informative webinar  on The New Rule of Law & Commerce China & Hong Kong Beyond 2020.

RSVP by email to law@whitestonechambers.com to secure a place. Webinar details will be provided upon a RSVP being received.

SLG, who operated several businesses that sold holidays and other travel arrangements including Shearings Holidays and National Holidays, entered into administration on the 22 May citing the impact of COVID 19. The group have also advised that 44 UK hotels under their control, will close and not re-open.

Over 2,500 jobs have been lost as a result.

The SLG group had already furloughed the overwhelming majority of their staff before last week’s news as the group were hit massively by the travel restrictions imposed by the government in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

SLG’s various groups primarily specialised in UK based holidays. Their trips were aimed at the over 50s and retired people who enjoyed the variety of locations and the convenience of taking the coach rather than having to drive.

According to ABTA, The UK travel trade association for tour operators and travel agents, the majority of customers will be able to get a refund. In a statement releases on their website, ABTA stated: (1)

The Group (SLG) had over 64,000 bookings, the vast majority of which were coach package holidays. All package holiday bookings are financially protected so customers with these bookings will receive a full refund, with coach packages protected by the Confederation of Passenger Transport. Shearings also offered a small number of flight package holidays which are ATOL protected and will be processed by the CAA.

The news came in another devastating week for the travel and aviation industry. Rolls Royce confirmed that 9,000 jobs, almost one fifth of their workforce, would be lost with 8000 of the 9000 cuts coming in the civil aerospace division.

One glimmer of light was provided by Easyjet who, in the same week, announced that they would resume some flights from June 15. Easyjet will fly between UK airports Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Belfast. (2)

(1) https://www.abta.com/news/specialist-leisure-group-which-includes-leading-coach-companies-shearings-and-national
(2) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52751791

 

Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG) – Advisory Note

COVID-19 –and preventing Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing in Legal Practices

Legal practices and practitioners should be aware that criminals will continue to operate throughout, and look to take advantage of, the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes laundering the proceeds of crime and terrorist financing, so it is important that everyone is aware of the changing risks.

Legal Sector Anti- Money Laundering (AML)/ Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) supervisors understand the particular challenges currently facing legal practices and practitioners. This includes the difficulties associated with undertaking customer due diligence (CDD), including appropriate levels of identification and verification (ID&V) – particularly where clients cannot be met face-to-face.

Please note legal practices and practitioners in scope of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) (the MLRs) must still comply with their statutory requirements at all times.

However, in line with a risk-based approach, the MLRs provide flexibility in the application of their requirements. There exist options for practices seeking to comply while also observing requirements such as social distancing.

Risks that may arise due to COVID-19

As well as changes to how we live our lives, COVID-19 is also changing the economy. An economic downturn may make legal practices more susceptible to financial difficulties or other pressures, which creates risk and potential weaknesses for criminals to exploit. As the UK economy enters a period of uncertainty, practitioners and practices should be particularly alert to the following risks in new or prospective customers:

• Being asked to work with unusual types of client or on unusual types of matter
• Resistance from a client regarding compliance with due diligence checks, for example being pressured to forego necessary due diligence checks or to “speed up” the process.
• Becoming involved in work that is outside of the practice’s or practitioner’s normal area of experience/expertise – without full understanding of the money laundering and counter terrorism risks associated with the new area of work
• Any attempt to gain access to your client account where not accompanied by the provision of legal services
• Transactions where the business rationale for the transaction is not clear.
Always ensure that you are comfortable as to your understanding of the matter, including its purpose and why it is happening in the particular way it is happening. Sensitivity: General

Identification and Verification
ID&V, is often undertaken in person, on the premises of the legal practice using suitable identification documents. This can provide a strong level of assurance, but this may no longer be possible in the current circumstances and you should consider what risks this may create.

An inability to conduct in person ID&V does not mean you cannot complete CDD, but you may need to consider using other methods that give you the necessary assurance that the person is who they say they are.

Practices and practitioners are reminded to adopt a risk-based approach, taking into account the contents of their practice-wide risk assessment, policies and procedures (and where necessary updating them) and the circumstances of individual clients/matters. As an alternative to face-to-face documentary verification, legal practices and practitioners may adopt or further utilise electronic means of ID&V where appropriate to the risks present in the client/transaction.

Such methods may include (but are not limited to) using independently or in combination:

1. Digital ID&V services that meet the requirements of the MLRs (R28(19) – “secure from fraud and misuse and capable of providing an appropriate level of assurance that the person claiming a particular identity is in fact the person with that identity.”)
2. Gathering and analysing additional data to triangulate the evidence provided by the client, such as geolocation, IP addresses, verifiable phone numbers etc.;
3. Verifying phone numbers, e-mails and/or physical addresses by sending codes to the client’s address to validate access to accounts
4. Using live and/or recorded digital video (many reliable and free options exist for this) of the customer showing their face and original photo identification documents so that you can compare them to a scanned copy of the same document (e.g. passport or driving license).

No matter what ID&V service or procedure is used, the responsibility to make sure the ID&V is undertaken correctly, is with the relevant practitioner and practice. If you are placing reliance on others to conduct CDD under Regulation 39, e.g. an instructing solicitor or accountant, you should ensure that you understand how they have adapted their CDD procedures to the different circumstances.

Make sure that you keep a record and evidence of the processes you follow; for example, of any video calls you make.

These methods alone may not be appropriate or sufficient where the money laundering and terrorist financing risks inherent in the particular client or matter are greater. In higher risk situations, further verification (including verification of source of funds/wealth) will likely be required. Sensitivity: General

Where you need to update ID&V records for existing clients, you should not rely on old ID just because you cannot currently meet them face-to-face.
Further, information and advice may be available on your Supervisors website. You are also referred to the HM Treasury approved LSAG Anti-Money Laundering Guidance for the Legal Sector (March 2018) and LSAG Key Changes Document issued January 2020.

Digital Identification and Verification Services

If you are considering whether to use a digital ID&V service, you must carefully consider whether it provides the assurance needed. In order to make this judgement, you may have regard to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidance on Digital Identity, particularly recommendations 22-27 in the Executive Summary as summarised below:

1. Understand what the service actually does i.e. what checks is it doing and what databases is it checking, if any.
2. Take a risk-based approach to relying on the service including understanding the assurance level provided and that it is appropriate to the risk.
3. Understand whether the service provides levels of assurance and how these may be appropriately used in different circumstances.
4. Consider whether using the service, negates the idea that all non- face to face transactions are high risk.
5. Use anti-fraud and other cyber security processes to support the service.
6. Engage with the service provider to ensure the practice has access to the information it may need to prove its compliance to its supervisor or to law enforcement.

 

April 2020

Whitestone Chambers has worked with WeeeCharity to donate computers and other IT equipment to the charity. With the equipment that it has received the charity will be able to continue achieving its following goals:

• To protect and preserve the environment by recycling electrical waste to help reduce the amount of WEEE Waste that ends up in landfill through waste reduction, recycling, repair, refurbish and for resale back into the community.
• Train volunteers who are unemployed, or faced with disabilities or learning difficulties, with essential skills and knowledge in a safe working environment to improve their work ethic, to prepare them for full time employment.
• Relieve financial hardship by the recycling and provision of electrical and electronic items at no cost.

Further information about the charity and the great work that it does can be found at: https://weeecharity.co.uk/

© 2020 Whitestone Chambers

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

 

Spending 2 weeks interning at Whitestone Chambers has been an immense blessing, and an invaluable learning experience.

Coming from Singapore, a jurisdiction that shares the common law tradition, I had a basic understanding of the legal system in the United Kingdom. My time in Whitestone Chambers has perfectly served to deepen my understanding and knowledge of the workings of the legal system here. Coming into this internship, one of my main objectives was to contrast and rationalise the legal system and culture in the UK with what I was familiar with in Singapore. I tried to be cognisant of this objective throughout my stint at Whitestone Chambers.

I particularly enjoyed visiting the numerous courts within and outside Central London. Undoubtedly, the judicial hierarchy and its jurisdiction is more complex in the UK. In order to attend the hearings of some cases it was necessary to take a train to the courts outside of London, a very foreign concept to a Singaporean.

The team at Whitestone Chambers assigned a variety of cases which ensured I had a wide breadth of experience in my short time here. From the Old Bailey, Kingston County Court to the Queen’s Bench Division at the Royal Courts of Justice, it was indeed exciting to see the law applied in action. To see young advocates in action in court was also particularly heartening. It was encouraging to see that the young advocates were given the trust and confidence to conduct cases on their own in court – something I do wish will happen more in Singapore.

Before every hearing, either Robert or Farrah would send me the case papers for me to read to understand the case better. Even before attending court, the Whitestone Chambers’ barristers still took the time to explain the case and their arguments to me. They were always enthusiastic to share and answer the questions that I had. I appreciated their frankness about the true prospects of the case that was placed before them to argue. After court they also took the effort to explain what the next steps were. It was very refreshing to hear their perspectives about their days as a student, doing the bar and their career at the bar.

While studying law, it is very easy to be drowned in textbooks and cases. This opportunity has allowed me to realise that the law is real and extends beyond understanding the ratio decidendi in Donoghue v Stevenson, or Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. Practising law requires one to remain relevant by being ready to read and understand areas of law that are unfamiliar. I enjoyed summarising the flight delay cases were assigned to me, it felt real and relatable. I enjoyed meeting clients, unlike the neatly typed out hypotheticals in law school, clients come in with random splatters of emotions and problems, and it’s your job to sieve through it.

Perhaps the main explanation why I enjoyed my stint at Whitestone Chambers should be attributed to the fantastic team I was working with. They made me feel as if I belonged even before I started, and they were always ready to give me guidance along the way. It was a joy walking into the chambers in the morning and being greeted with a wide smile. Working in a dynamic environment where everyone is passionate in their work there was never a dull moment. When everyone came down for the Christmas party on the 13 December, it was evident how fun-loving this bunch of people are.

Regrettably, I only had 2 weeks with this set of chambers, I wish it could be longer. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the past 2 weeks. Within this time, I have forged friendships, deepened my understanding of the UK, and cemented my interest in litigation. Perhaps one day I will be back.

© 2019 Whitestone Chambers

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

North Face has apologised for manipulating Wikipedia to boost its Google search results.

The well-known US clothing brand, which emerged from humble beginnings as a retailer of specialist climbing gear, came under sharp criticism when its new ad campaign video explaining what it had done, was shared online by Advertising Age.

In the campaign video, North face proudly announced how they had “hacked” the search rankings using Wikipedia pages and it cost “nothing”. Further boasting how they cleverly noticed; “before going on a trip, everyone does a google search” and “most of the time, the first image is from Wikipedia”, so they “did what no one has done before”.

They photographed models wearing their brand in more than 15 adventurous places, including Brazil’s Guarita State Park, as well as California’s Cabo peninsula and Scotland’s Cuillin mountains. Then in April, with hired help from a Brazilian subsidiary ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made, they simply switched the Wikipedia location images for their own branded images. “simple as that” according to the video..

The self-praising video was not well received and experienced a social media backlash whilst The Wikimedia Foundation, which set up and oversees the online encyclopaedia, called the campaign ‘unethically’ manipulating, adding, “what they did was akin to defacing public property,… commercial promotion goes directly against the policies, purpose and mission of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world.”

North Face was left red faced and duly issued the following apology via Twitter:

“We believe deeply in Wikipedia’s mission and apologise for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles,”

But North Face didn’t stop there, announcing:

“Effective immediately, we have ended the campaign and moving forward, we’ll commit to ensuring that our teams and vendors are better trained on site policies.”

Leo Taylor Burnett were also suitably humbled by the online condemnation and stated:

“Leo Burnett Tailor Made found a unique way to contribute photography of adventure destinations to their respective Wikipedia articles while achieving the goal of elevating those images in search rankings. We’re always looking for creative ways to meet consumers where they are. We’ve since learned that this effort worked counter to Wikipedia’s community guidelines. Understanding the issue, we ended the campaign. Our team has further accepted an invitation by Wikipedia to learn more about the platform and their work to share unbiased, fact-based knowledge. We look forward to working with Wikipedia to engage with them, and with respect to their network of volunteer editors, better in the future.”

You might be forgiven for thinking that this concluded the saga; social media does have a social conscience, and North Face may just have paid a heavy price after all, having to suffer the financial loss of production costs, agency costs and cost to their reputation. However, a cynic may suggest that the publicity caused by such stunts, the ensuing controversy and attention around it can be part of the overall campaign goal and brand marketing strategy.

So maybe that was the plan all along Now we are all very much more aware, more than ever, of North Face and of course (if you didn’t know them before, you do now), the ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made.

© 2019 Emma Connolly

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com