LIFTING THE CORPORATE VEIL - MacRoberts LLP · Lifting the Corporate Veil A Guide to the Risks of...
Transcript of LIFTING THE CORPORATE VEIL - MacRoberts LLP · Lifting the Corporate Veil A Guide to the Risks of...
LIFTING THE CORPORATE VEIL
John McGovern
Head of Corporate Defence
MacRoberts LLP
Lifting the Corporate Veil
A Guide to the Risks of Exposure to Criminal Prosecution for Companies and Directors
Outline of Seminar
• Who we are and what we do
• Typical case studies
• Emerging personal risks for company directors and officers
• Insure against costs of protecting your interests in corporate investigation and prosecution
Corporate Defence
• Corporate Defence Practice Group est May 2015
• James McMillan – Associate
• David Magee – Senior Solicitor
• Team of 10 solicitors
Key contact: John McGovern
• Solicitor Advocate (Criminal)
• 25+ years criminal litigation experience
• Advanced criminal law tutor at Glasgow University
• Former President of Glasgow Bar Association
• Member of White Collar Crime Committee of American Bar Association
• Construction law LLM
What We Do
• Protect the interests of directors, company officers and corporate bodies
• Regulatory investigations
• Criminal prosecutions
Client Profile
• Individual Sole Traders
• SME’s
• Global Corporate Companies
Client Profile
• Service Sectors
oAgriculture
oConstruction
oEnergy
oEngineering
oFinancial
oFood
oManufacturing
oOil and Gas
oTechnology
oWaste and Recycling
What is a Regulatory Investigation?
• Company / organisation / charity
• Owners / directors / employees / trustees
• Statutory regulator investigation / COPFS
Case Studies
• Health and Safety (HSE)
• Environmental (SEPA)
• Road Traffic (Police Scotland)
Case Studies: Health and Safety
• Timber manufacturer
• Corporate homicide investigation – fatal accident
• HSE and Crown Office negotiations
• £80,000 fine (PUWER Regs)
Case Studies: Environmental
• Manufacturing company
• SEPA investigation / Defence investigation
• ECHR Article 6 challenge
• Outcome to challenge awaited
Case Studies: Road Traffic Act
• International delivery company
• Technical failing
• Found not guilty after trial
• Reputational damage and criminal conviction avoided
Lifting the Corporate Veil: Limited Liability?
• Separate legal personality
• Directors and shareholders generally not held liable
Lifting the Corporate Veil
• Increasing trend with courts and prosecutors across the UK to “lift the corporate veil”
• Looking at the controlling minds to identify responsibility
• Personal conduct – Increasing scrutiny from regulators and investigators
Health and Safety: HSE Investigation Focus
Criminal prosecution of the EMPLOYER and/or COMPANY DIRECTORS under s.37 HSWA
1974
Breach of section 3 HSWA 1974: EMPLOYER ensures the
health and safety of third parties from its activities
Breach of section 2 HSWA 1974: EMPLOYER ensures the heath and safety of its
employees
Health and Safety: Section 37 of HSWA 1974
Who does it apply to?
• Specific provision for prosecution in relation to health and safety offences of:
“any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in such capacity.”
Health and Safety: Section 37 Prosecutions
How does it apply?
• If Director/Manager:
oPosition of authority
oHas knowledge, or ought to have knowledge
oConsented to breach
oAware of breach but did nothing
Health and Safety: Section 37 Sentences
• Prosecutions under s.37 HSWA increased by 400% in
past 5 years
• If director prosecuted, she/he is liable on conviction to:
o2 years imprisonment
oUnlimited financial penalty
oUp to 15 years director disqualification
Motoring Offences: Driving at Work
• Increasing prosecution focus on corporates where employee driving
• One quarter of annual vehicle mileage on Britain’s roads are for work purposes
• 800 to 1000 people killed annually in work related crashes
• Business drivers collision rates: 30-40% higher than those of private drivers
• 4 in 10 tiredness related crashes involve a commercial vehicle
Motoring Offences: Big Issues
• Car is a machine like any other work equipment
• Driving at work policy scrutinised by HSE
Motoring Offences: HSE/Police Considerations
• Speeding due to demanding work schedule
• Injury/death caused by mobile phone
• Employees on call 24 hours a day
•Injury/death caused by drink driving
• Falling asleep at the wheel
• Undiagnosed medical condition
• Condition of company vehicle
• Condition of employee’s vehicle
used for work
• Employee uninsured
Motoring Offences: HSE/Police Considerations
Environmental Offences: Directors’ Personal Exposure
• Section 157(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 almost identical in terms to section 37 of the HSWA 1974
Environmental Offences: Court Decisions
STUD Recycling Ltd - Airdrie Sheriff Court, 5 March 2014
• Company fined £12,000
• Director, Joseph Cahill sentenced to 6 months imprisonment
Doonin Plant Ltd - Livingston Sheriff Court, 23 October 2014
• Company fined £200,000
• Director, Gary Doonin sentenced to 250 hours, Community Payback Order
Earthmover Tyre Recycling Ltd - Hamilton Sheriff Court, 27 February 2015
• Company fined £195,000
• Director, Paul Cook sentenced to 14 months imprisonment
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA)
• Increasing criminal prosecution focus
• ‘Not just drug dealers’ - business activity becoming the focus of increasing POCA intervention
• Proceeds of Crime - any financial benefit which arises from criminal activity
• Wider scope (HSE?)
• Confiscation of assets, including personal assets
Emerging Issues
• SEPA Enforcement Policy
• Data Protection
• Scottish Sentencing Council (SSC)
• FFI
Insured for Legal Defence Costs?
• Typical EL/PL policy claim results in insurer’s own appointed lawyers
• Economic interests of insurers vs. client interests
• AXA developing Management Liability product in conjunction with MacRoberts
• No 51% prospect of success; no accident “event”
One Final Thing
• Legal Professional Privilege
KEEP YOUR BUSINESS SAFE!
Our team is on call 24/7 to offer immediate assistance to your business
in the event of raids, inspections or prosecutions
Call our 24/7 Emergency Response Hotline:
07950 860 241
Thank You
Any Questions